Once upon a touch
by bloomsburry
Summary: In fairy tales, it usually starts with the famous words of ‘Once upon a time’……but in this story it starts with ‘Once upon a touch’…and ends with no happily-ever-after…….R&R PLEASE.
1. Disastrous Dinner

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto**_

**_Warning: Very huge lemon ahead and implied NaruSasu._**

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**Once upon a touch**

**Rated M**

**Unadulterated Lust/ slight humor  
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**Itasaku**

**--**

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**In fairy tales, it usually starts with the famous words of 'Once upon a time'…….but in this story it starts with 'Once upon a touch'….and ends with no happily-ever-after…….**

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"Oh God" 17 year old Haruno Sakura gasped her hand flew to her mouth in horror as she stared at the stain in the white hakama of the man sitting opposite to her. Sakura suddenly stood up and rushed to his side, taking her white handkerchief from inside her red patterned kimono and began dabbing it on the stain.

Sakura was so busy trying to get rid of the stain that she hadn't noticed that the man beside her had suddenly froze at the contact.

"I'm really sorry" Sakura apologized as she continued to wipe the brown stain from the man's white hakama but the stain couldn't be removed. The occupants in the room had gone horribly quite as they watch her futile attempt at removing the brown stain on the frozen man beside her.

"I'm very sorry" Sakura choked as the tears that she was trying to repress earlier were obscuring her vision. Sakura hid it with her bangs, afraid that her two team mates might see the tears gathering in her eyes and most of all she doesn't want Sasuke's parents to label her as weak. Crying over little things like a stain on the immaculate hakama made Sakura feel like she was 13 years old again.

"I didn't mean that to happen" Sakura said, her voice shaking. Sakura put more pressure on her hand as she continued to dab her soiled handkerchief on the white cloth. Itachi tensed beside her but Sakura really didn't care one bit since her mind was preoccupied with chaotic feelings and most of them was anger.

Sakura was angry at herself for being an overly emotional teenager. It wasn't her fault that she had a bad day at the Hospital or the fact that she was having her period that day. Sakura wouldn't have gone to this meeting in the first place but since it was an utmost important that she attend this meeting, Sakura was pressured to come along. She wouldn't let her two team mates go without her to attend this 'test' as Naruto had put it.

Uchiha Fugaku, Sasuke's tyrant of a father had ordered his youngest son to pull out from his team to join the Uchiha Police force but Uchiha Sasuke, who had grown a backbone for the passed years, had downright refused his father's orders. Sakura was proud of her one- time crush, and she along with Naruto and their weird friend Sai had celebrated Sasuke's sudden autonomy. Sakura could still remember how Sasuke had loosened up a bit when they had drunk their first cup of sake , even confessing his love for Naruto.

Naruto ,who was currently going out with Hinata, was shocked at Sasuke's revelation but Sasuke had burst out into fits of nervous laughter after his so called 'confession' that Sakura was lead to believe that Sasuke had gone mad. Sasuke then admitted that it was only a joke and Naruto who was still incredulous at Sasuke's confession and unusual behavior had accepted his friend's joke with a nervous laughter of his own.

Sakura hadn't been really drunk that night and had a noticed that Sasuke had kept on casting surreptitious glances at Naruto's direction when he wasn't looking. That was when the remaining traces of Sakura's crush on Sasuke had gone down her emotional drain. Sakura had kept Sasuke's love for Naruto a secret but Sasuke doesn't know about this of course. Sakura wouldn't dare confront the arrogant and unfazed Uchiha that he was gay.

Sakura was also sure that this love for Naruto would soon passed because based on Erik Erickson's psychosocial theory, teenager usually go to this stage of Role confusion Vs. Identity. Sasuke must have a hard time going through this stage and Sakura just hope that Sasuke would emerge from this psychosocial change with a pair of a pants and not a mini skirt.

After realizing that it was already passed midnight, Team 7 had parted ways and had gone straight to bed. Naruto was so drunk that he needed help from both her black haired friends to bring him home. Funny enough while Naruto was drunk he was as silent as that of Sai and Sasuke when they were sober while Sasuke had been the exact opposite. Sasuke had thrown his entire cold attitude replaced by an overly emotional female version of himself. Confessing his love for Naruto and joking around like there was no tomorrow. It was a hell of a night alright and Sakura had enjoyed every second of it.

The next morning after their celebration, they were called by the Hokage to report about their previous mission but none of them had gone. They were still suffering from the effects of their drunken night that they had stayed in bed for the rest of the morning.

The Hokage had sent someone to force them from the confines of their bed when her Shishou had gotten impatient after hours of waiting for them. Sakura was sporting a huge headache when she had gotten to the Hokage Tower and Naruto was no better, her blond haired team mate had worn his green underwear when he had suddenly appeared beside her, earning a chakra less punch from Sakura. They waited for Sasuke to arrive but he was late and so they had proceeded to report to the Hokage without him. Even their usually late sensei arrived before Sasuke did but as the report went by without was no where in sight not even when the Hokage had finally dismissed them.

After giving their report to the Hokage, Sakura and Naruto had immediately set out in search for their black haired team mate but not before Naruto change into a decent attire. Sakura wouldn't want her energetic friend running around the streets of Konoha wearing a pair of boxer shorts, would she? Both of them had search grueling hours for their black haired team mate but sadly enough they didn't find any trace of his spiky black hair anywhere near Konoha. The two of them search all the places where Sasuke usually hang out but he wasn't there.

The both of them had search for Sasuke everywhere but they had never thought of searching for him inside the Uchiha Compound. They only thought about it when Sai had point it out to them but Naruto and Sakura had never dared gone near the Uchiha Compound. They shook their head and said that they'll just wait another few weeks for Sasuke to appear before they go search the Compound.

The next few weeks had passed and still Sasuke was absent from their training session with their sensei, Sakura and Naruto became worried. The weeks turn into months and still they didn't find any traces of him. They had tried to seek him out inside the Uchiha Compound but the guards there didn't allow them entry. Only an Uchiha can enter the Compound they said or they can enter the Compound through an invitation from one of their clan members.

Sakura of course did not fall for such lies and had a nagging suspicion that the Uchiha Clan leader was keeping Sasuke away from them. They only found out later from Sai that Sasuke had joined the Anbu Ops and was currently on an A-rank mission. They had asked Sai , a new member of the Anbu Ops, to report to them when Sasuke arrive after his mission. It was another few weeks before they finally found Sasuke and forced him to tell the reason of his sudden disappearance. Sasuke had been hesitant to tell them the truth and after a while of 'convincing' him otherwise. Sasuke had finally given in and confided in them of his father's ultimatum.

The night of their celebration, Sasuke had gone home late and very drunk. His father had been furious when he saw his son on that state and had given him the ultimatum.

"Join the Police Force or you will be disowned for consorting with those people you called friends" Fugaku had said to his son. Sasuke wanted neither of it and had argued with his father. Mikoto ,who had woken up from the sound of angry voices, had tried to soothe the two men into settling the argument in a peaceful way. Sasuke's older brother was out on an assassination mission and Sasuke was glad of his absence.

Sasuke didn't want his brother trying to side with him again. Although Sasuke was glad of his brother's support but Itachi had always made him feel dependent and made him feel like a baby .Sasuke was no longer the boy who hero worship his older brother but Itachi seems not to think so. Itachi's habit of poking Sasuke's forehead hadn't changed one bit and Sasuke was getting frustrated at his older brother's action.

Itachi was totally oblivious to Sasuke's change or was he? Sasuke didn't know but he had feeling that it was all an act to test Sasuke's volatile temper but Sasuke was just glad that he hadn't lost his temper yet.

The absence of his older brother had a huge impact to Sasuke's current situation. His father had given the ultimatum while Sasuke had a difficult time trying to decide what to do. It was a minute or two when Sasuke got an idea. He would follow his brother's footprints and become Anbu so that he wouldn't be cage in the Police force and at the same time he could still see his friends.

Fugaku had been reluctant to admit that Sasuke's idea of becoming Anbu was a better choice. Fugaku would be proud that two of his sons are in Anbu. So Fugaku had agreed to Sasuke's idea of becoming Anbu but the side where Sasuke could spend time with his friends was not agreeable to Fugaku. It was another minute or two when Sasuke got another ingenious idea of convincing his father to let him spend time with his friends.

In the end Sasuke had won but not before agreeing with his father's terms. Sasuke had to train with him for next few months in preparation for the Anbu exams. His father had also told him that he was not allowed to see his friends until Sasuke joined the Anbu Ops.

It was three months and three weeks later that Sasuke had finally joined the Anbu ranks and it was only a week later when he had been assigned to his first mission. Another few weeks had passed and Fugaku had given Sasuke permission to see his friends and told Sasuke that he wanted to meet his friends, to fulfill the last part of the bargain.

Sasuke had been nervous about the idea of introducing his friends to his father. Sasuke was not ashamed about them of course but he was just suspicious that his father might reject them easily because his father already knew that Naruto was one of his friends and the Hokage's apprentice with a civilian background was his team mate too. Sasuke's father would surely dismiss them as inferior to the Uchiha Clan and thus Sasuke has no right to be friends with them. Sasuke was regretting his decision; after all he was the one who introduce the idea to his father.

"I want you to meet my friends and I want you to make your own judgment whether I should spend time with them or not"

So Sasuke had met with his team mate and was forced to confide the truth to them.

It was only three days ago when Sasuke had extended the invitation to them and Sakura had never wished in her life that Sasuke would be better off dead than alive right now. If Sakura could survive this ordeal, she would probably stake him alive and cooked him like a chicken. Sakura blame all of this on Sasuke. If it wasn't for him, Sakura would be in bed by now and having a good night sleep after overworking herself at the Hospital.

The dinner was totally ruined by her and Sakura couldn't feel any better than to bury her head in the ground and hide there until all of them would disappear. Sakura had made a total fool of herself in front of Sasuke's parents and his older brother, especially Sasuke's older brother. Uchiha Itachi was the one who has to suffer Sakura's clumsiness which usually shows itself when she was having her period. Sakura had never felt so much embarrassment like she was experiencing right this moment.

"I'm really sorry" Sakura repeated as she continued to wipe the stain with her shaking hands. Sakura's eyes becoming misty each moment her hand dabbed the stain. "I'm very sorry Uchiha-san for ruining your hakama….."

Sakura absently leaned forward to wipe the rest of the stain on the man's left leg. Her hand landed on the man's right thigh through his white hakama, making his skin flexed at her touch. Sakura added as she grabbed his thigh for leverage as her directed her attention to the stain on the left side of Itachi's hakama.

"I should probably buy you another one since the stain looks like it won't disappear anytime soon" Sakura blabbered in nervousness and embarrassment but the man beside her remain frozen.

Sakura still didn't notice that her trailing hands were having a huge effect on the silent male and was about to reached for the stain with her handkerchief when her wrist was grabbed in a tight grip. Sakura flinched when the man's hand tightened around her slim wrist. Her eyes flying towards the man she had accidentally spilled her miso soap on.

Emerald met Onyx and Haruno Sakura was frozen in shocked at the intensity of the stare Uchiha Itachi was directing at her.

Itachi's black onyx eyes had gone dark as he stared at the beautiful face a mere inches from his own. Itachi could see the tears on the girl's eyes and Itachi felt a little sympathy for the girl. Itachi knew why they were there but he was not obliged to extend his helping hand to her or her other team mate. Itachi has been told by his little brother earlier that he shouldn't interfere with his plans.

His little brother was confident enough that his friends would pass the test without his help or his mother for that matter. So Itachi had respected Sasuke's request and had come to this 'meeting' to see what happen. Both his parents had been surprised to see him there but Itachi had dismissed their surprised look with bored look of his own.

This was not first time that he had met Sasuke's friends. He had met them in passing but they had never spoken to each other. They knew each others name but they barely knew each other personally. Itachi had heard tidbits about Uzumaki Naruto and Haruno Sakura from everyone. He had heard about the adventure of Team 7 and their sensei, Hatake Kakashi.

Itachi knew the simple fact that is to know about his brother's team mates but he had never expected that the Hokage's apprentice to be so naive about the effects of an attractive female on a very sex deprived male. Itachi had heard about this pink haired medic from everyone and most of them had praised her healing abilities and her incredible chakra control. Itachi thought that being a medic has to qualify and excel in all the areas of the medical field but the girl seems to be lacking on the knowledge about human anatomy, especially the male anatomy.

The kunoichi had been hard pressed in removing the stain from his hakama that she hadn't notice the effect that she had on him with just her simple touch. If it wasn't for the fact that Itachi had an iron control over his libido, he would probably be sporting an engorged member right this moment and would probably scare her to death if she finds out that the Uchiha Heir had hormones after all.

The girl moved beside him as she tried to pull her hands from his grip. Her eyes were wide and doe-like which reminded Itachi of a cornered animal that was about to be devoured by the predator.

The kunoichi's flowery scent wafted through his nostrils and Itachi senses flared into life. His grip on the petite female tightened as his sharingan activated itself, coming into focus on the alluring female close to him. Itachi heard her gasped when she looked into his spinning sharingan and she tried to disengage herself from his grip. Itachi's eyes darken when the swell of her breast accidentally brushed against his simple touch fueling Itachi's usually passive hormones. Itachi sucked a lung full of breath before releasing her from his grip and was suddenly gone from the room.

Sakura fell on the zabuton on her ass with both her hands to support her. The man who was holding her earlier was out of the door before the occupants of the room could blink an eye. The room was silent as they stared at the open shoji doors where the black haired Uchiha had gone. Sakura was still lying on the zabuton with her knees bent and her ass sitting on the zabuton with both her hands to support her weight.

Sakura didn't know why the stoic male had been glaring at her with his sharingan earlier The glare had left Sakura shaking with fear and quaking with something else. Sakura could still remember the emotion that had flashed on Itachi's eyes and Sakura was puzzled by it. She had never seen such an intense emotion like she had seen on Itachi. The look he gave her had left her weak on the knees and making her insides quiver with anticipation. The feeling was a foreign emotion to Sakura and Sakura didn't want that to happen again.

Sakura's lips trembled as tears that she had tried to stop earlier were threatening to fall from her eyes. Sakura was still shaken of Itachi's sudden departure and the foreign feeling that the Uchiha heir had ignited in her. Sakura bit her lower lip as a she stopped the sob that was trying to escape from her lips. Sakura blamed it on her period for being emotionally female right now and the clumsiness that she had exhibited earlier. Sakura sat up on the zabuton and face the remaining occupants of the room.

Sakura bowed her head as she hid the tears that suddenly came pouring down from her emerald eyes. Sakura didn't dare look at her friends who had become silent when she had spilled her miso soup on Itachi. Sakura knew that she would see the accusation in their eyes for ruining the chance of Sasuke to remain in the team.

Sakura bowed her head lower as she directed her words to the Uchiha Clan leader and the Matriarch who sat themselves beside Itachi earlier.

"Gomenasai, Uchiha-san" Sakura bowed her head towards the Sasuke's control maniac of a father and then towards Sasuke's soft and demure mother. "Mikoto-san"

"I'm sorry I ruin the dinner" Sakura mumbled to the floor, blinking the tears that came rushing from her eyes and into the cushion of the zabuton." I'm sorry for spilling the--"

"Sakura….." Sakura stopped apologizing when she heard the command on Sasuke's voice. "That's enough"

Sakura looked up and stared at Sasuke who was giving her a dismayed look.

"It's alright" Sasuke said softly but he avoided looking at anyone in the room. "You don't need to apologize. It's all over anyway…..my father had already decided not to let me join the team before you arrive here"

Sasuke stood up from his zabuton and started to walk towards the open shoji doors.

"What do you mean teme?" Naruto asked loudly as he followed Sasuke and suddenly grabbed Sasuke by the collar. Sakura did not react at Sasuke's words, she was still in shocked that Sasuke had let them come here, already knowing the outcome of this meeting?

"Did your father already decide that we don't deserve you before we came in here?" Naruto growled and send a glare at Fugaku's direction. "Then we shouldn't have come here in the first place--"

Naruto looked back at his black haired team mate and shook him hard

"And your just going to let him control your decision again?" Naruto shouted at the impassive male under his grip. "Your father is a fucking control freak, Sasuke!"

Fugaku suddenly stood up from the zabuton and was striding towards the two men. Sasuke did not struggle from Naruto's grip as his blond best friend continued to shake him.

"Release my son" Fugaku ordered, his hands grabbing Sasuke's shoulder as he tried to remove his son from the blond ingrate.

"NO!" Naruto shouted as his grip tightened on Sasuke's black kimono. Fugaku's eyes had turned sharingan and were spinning as he stared at the loud mouth blond.

"Sasuke! Don't let him break the team." Naruto stared at Sasuke's blank expression and was going to shake him again when Fugaku threw Naruto into a wall. Sasuke's eyes widen as Naruto hit the wall and was about to go to his friend when his father restrained him, putting a hand on his shoulder and was warning him with his eyes.

"Don't come near him" Fugaku ordered.

"Naruto!" Sakura rushed towards her blond friend who was slumped on the floor, unconscious. "Naruto!"

Sakura switched into her medic mode and was checking him for any injuries when she heard Mikoto said behind her.

"I have a first aid kit on the--"Mikoto began, her voice sounding concern when her husband stopped her.

"Leave" Fugaku ordered, his voice leaving no protest from Sakura. Sakura glared up at him as she hauled Naruto's unconscious form in to her small shoulders. Her anger boiling as she stared right into Fugaku's sharingan eyes.

"Gladly" Sakura spat as she strode towards the exit.

"Let me carry him" Sasuke suggested as he moved towards Sakura but Sakura shot him a glare before he could do such thing.

"If Naruto didn't need my special attention right now" Sakura said threateningly, the tears were already gone from her eyes replaced by anger and sorrow. "I would probably be beating you to death right this moment and I'll make sure that there will be no medic-nins to tend to your injuries"

Sasuke winced imperceptibly when Sakura moved passed him, hitting his shoulders. Sasuke looked at the doorway where his team mates had gone and was about to follow them when his father stopped him again.

"Sasuke" his father said as he stared at Sasuke's back."Starting from today you are not allowed to see them again"

Sasuke ignored him and began walking towards the way where his friends had gone.

"Sasuke" Fugaku called again but Sasuke pretended that he didn't hear him.

"You will be disowned if you try to follow them." Fugaku threatened and Sasuke froze at his father's words then turned back to look at his father and glared at him through his sharingan.

"I don't care" Sasuke said before turning away and leaving the premise,missing the look of shocked from his father's face and his mother's smile.

Sakura walked out from the room carrying Naruto's heavy weight on her shoulders. She had difficulty walking since the kimono she was wearing was preventing her movements. So Sakura had discarded her white obi to allow herself free reign to control her pace. The green silk kimono she was wearing flapped behind her as she strode passed the shoji doors towards the exit.

Sakura was still simmering from anger and her tears had already gone dry. Sakura suddenly shivered through her thin white nagajuban as she felt the sudden rushed of cold on the dark and empty hallway.

Sakura hurried her pace when she felt Sasuke's chakra nearing her. Sakura didn't want to see him right now after giving them false hope that they could win the stone heart of Uchiha Fugaku. Sakura could still remember how Naruto and she had tried to please Sasuke's family. Sakura had tried to charm them with her wits and beguiling smiles but it was only Uchiha Mikoto, who had rewarded them with their efforts. Naruto had tried to win the Uchiha Leader with his zest and enthusiasm, joking around and making Mikoto and her laughed but the rest of the Uchiha men had been sitting there looking cold as a statue. Sasuke had been silent during the dinner only giving monosyllabic comments when Naruto asked him something.

Both Fugaku and Itachi had been observing them with their calculated eyes that made Sakura nervous. At first Sakura had tried to ignore it but when she could no longer take the intense stare of one Uchiha Itachi, Sakura had broken down and had spilled her miso soup all over him. Sakura's face warm at the memory, she was still embarrassed of her clumsiness and she wanted to blame Sasuke for her embarrassing exhibition.

Sakura's snapped up when she suddenly felt like she was being watched and sure enough she saw the tall male standing at the foot of the stairs leading to the second floor. Sakura stopped walking to stare at Itachi who had change his clothes into a black yukata and she could guess that he had just taken a shower, judging by his dripping wet raven black hair.

Sakura suddenly felt the air shifted around her and Sakura froze when Itachi's eyes turned ruby to stare at her slim form through the thin nagajuban. Sakura flushed red when Itachi's eyes traveled from the top of her head to the hem of her nagajuban where she unconsciously curled her toes when she suddenly felt the foreign heat coming from her stomach, making her dizzy.

Naruto was still unconscious on her shoulders and Sakura would have left the house seconds ago but Uchiha Itachi decided to strip her with his heated stare, making Sakura forgot everything. Sakura definitely felt hot all over and she doesn't know where it was coming from but she absolutely sure that Itachi have got to do with it.

Sakura's knees were weakening and her breath had hitched when she saw Itachi's eyes had turned predatory. If it wasn't for Sasuke coming from behind her, Sakura would have swooned at Itachi's feet.

"Sakura" Sasuke said from behind her and Sakura was relieve to have his presence as the air around her change but Sakura could still feel the stare coming from the Uchiha Heir near the stairs.

"Let me carry him" Sasuke said as he took Naruto away from her. Sakura did not reply as she was still shaken from the intense stare that Itachi had given her. Sakura's eyes were still glued to the man who was still staring at her in return. The predatory eyes that she had seen earlier were no longer there replaced by a bored look on his face but Sakura noticed that he had sent her lingering looks at her slim figure.

"Sakura" Sasuke broke into her hazy mind and Sakura turned to look at him with a confused look. "Let's go before my father will try to stop me again"

Sakura mutely agreed and turn back towards the silent man in front of them. Itachi was still staring at her and Sakura flashed beat red when she directed her mumbled words to the Uchiha Heir.

"Gomenasai, Uchiha-san" Sakura bowed low not noticing that her nagajuban had open at the neckline, revealing her creamy cleavage for Itachi's eyes to see. The air around them had stilled as Itachi's eyes devoured the sight presented to him, his desires that he had repressed earlier return to him full force.

The shower was not enough to curb his traitorous body and at the sight of the girl's running form when he had walked downstairs had made Itachi wanted to take the girl then and there regardless of the unconscious form on the girl's shoulder. Itachi hadn't been with a woman for 6 months now and his celibacy had increased his testosterone level, making Itachi act like a horny teenager but Itachi could easily repressed it by taking a shower.

Now it seems his trip to the shower was not enough to satisfy his raging hormones and when Itachi had come across the girl. Itachi was overcome with lust that he was ready to tear the nagajuban out from her slim figure and have his way with her. The touch that she had given to him earlier was enough to ignite his lust that couldn't be sated until he could have her….or find another woman.

Itachi choose the latter as his brother arrive before Itachi enacted his lust filled fantasies to have the girl. Itachi watched them leave after the girl said her farewell and apologies to him; the sight of her creamy bosom was still imprinted into his photographic mind that Itachi wanted to erase it before he could go mad with lust for her.

Itachi swore under his breath as he went back to his room needing another cold shower. Itachi would find a woman the next morning to sate his lust filled body.

--

Sakura flopped on her bed, still wearing her green kimono. Sakura had healed Naruto's minor bump on the head and had went straight home. She had left Naruto under Sasuke's care who was going to bunk in Naruto's house for a few weeks until Sasuke find his own apartment.

Sakura, who had just moved into her small apartment a few months before, was glad for Sasuke. It was nice to feel independent without her mother and father interfering with her life. Sakura sat up from her bed and began removing her green kimono and nagajuban, only leaving her Hadajuban behind.

Sakura dived back into her white bed linens wearing only a pair of panties and her Hadajuban, leaving nothing to the imagination. Sakura didn't wore a bra beneath her Hadajuban and Sakura was just to comfortable to care if someone see her naked chest through the thin cloth of her Hadajuban.

Sakura drifted into a fitful sleep, snuggling in her covers as the wind caressed her skin from her open window. The curtains softly moved as the wind blew passed it from the open window. Sakura was out in one second before her head touch the pillows.

Something shifted in the dark as the shadow flew inside the room. The shadow paused at near the window before walking towards the bed where the girl was sleeping.

The shadow stood staring at the girl, his eyes turning ruby as the temperature in the room increased.

* * *

_Sakura gasped as she felt his large hands cupping her perky breast. Sakura grabbed the man's hair as she felt his tongue licked her nipples while pinching the other one with his free hand. Sakura writhe her body as the man's tongue flicked over her tight nipple. The man drew his attention to her other nipple and Sakura could feel the juices of her arousal building inside her, preparing for what is yet to come._

_The man licked his way through her cleavage and into her arched neck, Sakura's hips unconsciously moving to a rhythm as old as time, brushing her pelvis against his engorged shaft._

_Sakura squirmed beneath the man's weight as he nuzzled her neck with his nose, his lips moving towards the shell of her ear where he bit her lobe. Sakura moved her hips and then wrapping her legs around him, her bundle of nerve rubbing against his erect member making Sakura moan at the contact. The man above her growled and grabbed her butt to stop her movement, his member dangerously close to her wet entrance. _

_Onyx eyes narrowed suddenly as the sent of the girl's arousal hit his nostril, making his member twitched in anticipation. The man released her butt but not before rubbing his thick member against her nether lips where Sakura could feel her wetness pooling. Sakura moaned at the friction when his smooth length softly brushed the surface of the sensitive bundle hiding beneath mounds of pink hair._

_Sakura rolled her hips against the man, wanting the sudden spark of friction that had happen earlier. But the man ignored the rolling of her hips and move towards her creamy long neck. The man bit her there, marring her skin with his love bites. The man sucked the skin where the girl's neck met her ear, earning a mewl from the wild she-cat underneath him._

_Sakura scratched her short nails on the man's back when he suddenly shifted her attention back to her erect man nuzzled and sucked at her nipple, making Sakura clamped her inner thighs on one of the man's muscular thigh, moving her hips in imitation of lovemaking. The man stopped sucking her breast as he felt the wetness coming from Sakura's entrance. The man moved above her and Sakura felt the stiff member of the man pressing against her stomach.  
_

_Sakura keep moving her hips while the man hovered above her, his eyes closed as he let the girl rubbed her arousal against his thighs. The head of his erection brushing softly against the girl's stomach as the girl continued to move. Sakura slowly trailed her hands towards the smooth member of the man, her small hands wrapping around it. _

_The man's eyes flew open and stared at the girl beneath him, who was caressing the smooth skin of his throbbing member . Sakura locked her eyes at him as__ she experimented with the rigid moved her hands up and down the man's engorged length and the man moved with her, the muscles on his thighs flexing. The man's eyes stared at her with such intensity that Sakura was afraid that she would get lost in his eyes. The man continued to move his hips while Sakura moved her hands up and down his smooth erection. _

_Sakura watched him as she absently brushed her thumb on the tip of the man's arousal._ _The man jerked and moaned at the contact, he took Sakura's hands from his erect member and placed it above her head. The man used one hand to hold Sakura's hands in placed while his other hand explored her flushed and aroused body._

_The man touched her slender neck before cupping her breast then running a thumb on her belly button before continuing downwards. Their breathing were uneven as the heat between them increased ten fold. Their bodies perspiring as they continued with their foreplay._

_Sakura felt the hands of the man moving downwards until he reached her navel. Sakura moaned loudly through the dark room as the man open her nether lips and squeezing that sensitive flesh which would bring so much pleasure to involuntarily jerked from the bed when the she felt something invaded her wet entrance. Sakura stiffen for a moment before struggling under the man's grip but the man merely smirk at her. His onyx eyes dark with lust as he stared at the wild and alluring women in his arms. The man move a thumb above her sensitive bud as he began to move his finger in and out of her.  
_

"_Itachi" Sakura gasped as she became used to the hands that was bringing her to this new kind of pleasure. The virile man above her was rubbing her clitoris in a slow rhythmic stroke while Sakura unconsciously clenched her inner walls around his single digit.  
_

"_That feels good, ne Sakura?" Itacih murmured seductively, his lips hovering above her trembling ones. Itachi nuzzled her lips with his aristocratic nose as he continued to move his finger inside her. Sakura tried to kiss him on the lips, moving her head to seek his sensuous ones, but Itachi evaded. He stared at her swollen and pouty mouth before giving her a smirk. Sakura glared through sooty lashes at the insufferable man, but Itachi ignored her. He continued to tease her with his hands and mouth, driving Sakura wild with unadulterated lust.  
_

_Itachi moved his thumb over the bundle of nerves just above her tight warmth making Sakura arched her back and curl her toes. Sakura began moving her hip in rhythm to Itachi's fingers , her hands struggling to free herself from Itachi's grasp. _

_Sakura pushed herself closer to him, her nipples brushing against his chiseled chest as Itachi inserted another finger inside her stretching her a little further. _

"_This is to prepare yourself when I wanted to take you entirely, Sakura" Itachi murmured against the skin of her neck, raining small kisses there while he continued to pistol his hands in and out of her. _

_Itachi was moving his hands inside her in slow aching paced and Sakura wanted to release the warm feeling inside her loin. The feeling was almost so intense that it brought tears in Sakura's eyes .Itachi kissed the tears away and moved his hands a little bit faster making Sakura sink her nails on the hand gripping her wrists.  
_

"_Kiss me, Itachi" Sakura commanded her voice hoarse and guttural as she tried to come out from her lust filled senses. Sakura heard him chuckle as he quicken the movement that he had on his magical fingers. _

"_Not yet" Itachi murmured, nuzzling her neck. Sakura could feel the smile on his lips as he kissed his way towards her breast. Itachi clumped his wet mouth on Sakura's breast, Sakura jerked up from the bed, her hips went wild as she moved her hips in rhythm with Itachi's thrusting fingers.  
_

_Itachi plunged another finger inside her as he busied himself into sucking Sakura's erect nipples. Sakura's felt something build up inside her as she raised her hip to meet Itachi's hands. She could see stars in her eyes as the heat inside her loins built up, making Sakura's body flushed and highly sensitive. Sakura's body began humming at the tension inside her body, and it slowly consumed her hazy and intoxicated mind.  
_

_Sakura threw her head back as Itachi brushed his thumb above her ultra sensitive bud. Itachi pressed the button and curled his three fingers inside her. Sakura cried out as her inner walls clenched around Itachi's could feel her the wetness of her orgasm pooled on her nether lips. Itachi released his mouth from Sakura's nipple and claimed her lips in a hungry kissed._

_Itachi plunged his tongue into her sweet mouth and move his tongue in rhythm with his pistoling fingers. Sakura's back was arched as the wave after wave of her climax washed over her .Her hand sinking into Itachi's broad back as he finally released her wrist. Sakura's head lolled to the side as the last of her orgasm subsided, her body was flushed and was gleaming with sweat. Sakura felt Itachi withdrew his hands from inside her, replaced by his throbbing shaft.  
_

_Itachi grasped the sheets above Sakura's head as he position himself above her entrance. His body tensed as he let the head of his erection enter Sakura's tight walls. Sakura was still wet after her orgasm earlier. That would serve as Itachi's lubricant when he would claim her. _

_Sakura moaned as she felt something pushed inside her entrance. It was larger and longer than Itachi's fingers, making Sakura want to recoil from Itachi in fear. But Itachi had none of it as he cage her with the huge expanse of his chiseled chest and his strong sturdy arms. Sakura's breathing became a hitch when Itachi took the pillow from beneath her head. The head of Itachi's throbbing member brushing against the inner walls of her already wet entrance.  
_

_Itachi placed a pillow beneath Sakura so that he could penetrate into her deeply. Itachi's erection slip a little bit into Sakura when he arranged the pillow beneath her rear, making Sakura gasped in discomfort and slight pain._

_Sakura felt like she was tearing as Itachi's erection hovered above her maidenhead, ready to break through it. Sakura's fingernails bit on Itachi's broad back, drawing blood. The excruciating pain was like a kunai was thrust into her tender flesh.  
_

_Itachi raised Sakura's left knee with his arm as he rolled his hips, the head of his member brushing against her maidenhead. Sakura sunk her nails on Itachi's shoulder and bit her lip, tears were gathering in her eyes._

_Itachi leaned over and kissed the unshed tears in her eyes. His lips softly brushing against her closed lids before moving down to kiss the tip of her nose and then her lips. Their lips brushed in a soft kiss before Itachi withdraw from her. Sakura slowly open her eyes to look at the man hovering above her. Their eyes dark with desire and anticipation as they stared at each other.  
_

"_I promise you won't regret this, Sakura" Itachi said as he kissed her lips tenderly, his eyes turning ruby as he gazed at the beautiful girl in his arms. Itachi placed her knees around his trim waist as he readied himself for a deep penetration. Itachi placed a small kissed on her forehead before placing both their hands above their heads.  
_

_Sakura felt Itachi tensed and Sakura inwardly clenched her inner muscles around half of his shaft. The head of Itachi's shaft nudging against her virginity.  
_

"_I promise" Itachi said, and with that he breached through her maidenhead and sheathed himself to the hilt .  
_

_"AHHHH!" Sakura screamed as she jerked her hips from the pillow underneath her. The tears that she had tried to repressed earlier ,now poured freely from her eyes. Sakura could feel the foreign heat searing inside her as Itachi buried himself into her tight warmth before totally withdrawing from her and then plunging down again._

_Itachi kissed her lips hungrily as make his claim on her._

_"You're mine" Itachi murmured into her ear as he keep on thrusting into her hurriedly_ _and deeply, making Sakura gasped each time he thrust into her deeply._

_**"You're mine!"**_

_Sakura screamed as his member hit something deep within her, making her body sing with so much pleasure that it was almost painful._

* * *

"SAKURA!" Sakura suddenly sat up from the bed, bringing the bed linens with her. Her heart was still beating fast and her body was dripping with sweat. The bed sheets tightly held in a tight fist into her chest.

"Are you alright?" Sasuke asked as he sat beside her on the bed. "You scream just now"

Sasuke asked, his voice concern but his face remained blank, as blank as a white canvas. Sakura did not reply as her heart continued to beat faster and she felt something painful in her stomach like she was aching for something.

"Bad dream?" Sasuke asked his eyes looking concern.

"_Hardly_" Sakura thought in embarrassment, her face heating up as she remembered what had occurred in her dreams. "_It was more of a wet dream_ _than a nightmare_"

It seems so real that left Sakura aching all over but not physically. Sakura could still feel the phantom pleasures that her dream Itachi had given to her.

"Are you okay now?" Sasuke asked scanning her flushed face. Sakura nodded as she came back from her high. Sakura's face flushed crimson when she finally noticed that she had been dreaming about Sasuke's older brother only minutes ago while Sasuke had been trying to wake her up.

There was silence in the room as Sakura waited for Sasuke to say something but he didn't. He merely gave her one of his famous smirks that made females like her swooned at his royal hotness but Sakura was no longer that girl who had a huge crush on him. So Sakura just stared at him and waited for him to tell the reason of his sudden visit.

"My father wanted me back" Sasuke began and Sakura raised her single brow at him. Sasuke continued "And he also told me that I could stay with my team"

Sasuke's lips twitched as he tried to stop himself from smiling at her. Sakura was shocked by the news and asked in a surprise voice.

"But how….I thought--"Sakura began.

"Itachi convince my father that I should stay with team 7" Sasuke said frowning as he recalled the request that he had given to his older brother. Itachi was not supposed to be interfering with his life but his brother was stubborn as a mule. Sasuke didn't know why Itachi tried to help him with his team; he hardly knew Naruto and Sakura but his father had easily given in to his older brother.

Sasuke had never found out how his brother had reason out with his father but he was just too happy to care. Sasuke could finally spend his time with his team mates without his father's interference.

"Itachi came to me this morning at Naruto's apartment and he told me everything" Sasuke explained further when Sakura had looked puzzled. "My father had asked me to come back to the Uchiha Compound to discuss the matters there. So I went there and my father agreed to let me continue with my association with team 7."

"If it wasn't for my brother I would probably be living with the Naruto for a few weeks" Sasuke reluctantly admitted to himself as he thought of his manipulating brother.

Sakura felt grateful towards the older Uchiha, Sakura would have to thank him later when she met him. Sakura flushed again when she pictured herself coming towards the stoic Uchiha Itachi and then rewarding him with a kiss. Sakura didn't know what to do with herself and her hormones. Sakura had just known him at the dinner and now she was the dreaming about him. Sakura blamed it on Itachi's intense stare last night, the stare and promised in his eyes had made her weak on the knees. Sakura knew about sex of course, she had come across it in her medical books but she only got the idea of how the testes and ovaries merged to form a fetus. But Sakura didn't know how lovers do it; she didn't want to find out anyway.

"**Liar**" Inner Sakura whispered to her as she lazed around the corners of her mind "**You wanted it badly that you dream of having it on Uchiha It--"**

"I'm not hearing this**" **Sakura thought to herself as she slammed inner Sakura back to her cell where she belongs. Sakura could hear her screaming in her mind and she smiled to herself.

Sakura turn towards her black haired team mate and hug him, the bed sheets still wrapped around her .Sasuke stiffen in her arms and Sakura laughed at Sasuke's reaction before releasing him immediately. Sakura was just glad to even care that Sasuke was glaring at her. Sasuke had not always been the huggable type and Sakura like that about him.

"I'm glad that you're going to stay with us" Sakura whispered to the stoic Uchiha who had turned his head away from her. Sakura knew why, Sasuke was blushing and he doesn't want her to see his reddened face. Sakura laughed at her team mate who gave her a glare but Sakura ignored it.

"Have you told Naruto already?" Sakura asked still laughing.

Sasuke shook his head as he tried to return the original color back to his face.

"He was asleep when Itachi arrived at the apartment. So I had to leave him to go the Uchiha Compound" Sasuke explained.

Sakura was silent for a moment before standing up from her bed. Sakura was going to visit her blond team mate and find out what his current condition was.

"I'm going to change clo--"Sakura began but stopped when she realized that the white bed linens that had been covering her entire body, fell onto the floor. Sakura look down at herself before squeaking in surprise. Her Hadajuban that had been covering her chest was gone and Sakura covered herself before Sasuke could see something that he wasn't supposed to see.

Too late, Sasuke had seen everything and the image had been burned into his mind. Sasuke flew towards the open window where he had entered earlier and spoke to the girl who was trying to gain the last bit of her modesty.

Sakura took the green kimono from the chair and used it to cover herself. Her eyes landed on the white obi that had been neatly folded on the chair. Sakura had left it at the Uchiha Compound when she had tried to leave the house. Sasuke must have found it when he had went back to the Uchiha Compound.

"I'll be waiting at Naruto's apartment" Sasuke said quietly to the girl behind him. Sasuke was about to jumped in to the roof top above him when Sakura spoke.

"Thanks for bringing my obi back with you" Sakura whispered still flushing. Sasuke frowned and turned towards the girl but he caught himself before his eyes catch something else. Sasuke talked to the wall as he directed his answer to her.

"You must be mistaken, Sakura" Sasuke said looking bored "I didn't bring any obi back here"

Sakura look confused as she stared at Sasuke's blank expression. If it wasn't Sasuke ….then who did?

"I better leave Sakura" Sasuke interrupted her thoughts. "Naruto must have woken up right now"

Sasuke cast a glance at the frozen girl standing beside the bed and noticed something unusual marring her skin.

"You better tend to that mosquito bites on you neck" Sasuke added before jumping into the open window.

Sakura swiftly turned around to look herself at the mirror. Sakura craned her neck to the side to check her 'mosquito bites' and found herself staring at…….

Sakura scream in horror as she found herself gazing at the love bites instead of a small mosquito bites on her neck. Sakura's eyes darken in growing trepidation and comprehension.

Sakura finally knew that last night was not a dream. Itachi was really there and had taken advantage of her. Sakura seethed with fury, her hands clenching and unclenching as she took hold over her chaotic emotions. Her inner turmoil veering from animalistic rage to utterly and complete confusion. Sakura gritted her teeth and scan the bed for her virgin blood, but there was none. If Itachi had taken her when she was having her menstruation, Sakura was expecting a lot more blood. But the bed sheet was surprisingly clean and immaculately white. Sakura's scowling face draw a complete blank as she stared at the wrinkled bed. Sakura stared at the empty bed for a moment before her eyes landed on the Hadajuban atop her wrinkled bed sheets.

Sakura hurriedly open her red kimono to inspect the rest of her body, looking for more signs of Itachi's sexual find none except love bites adorning her arms and above the swell of her breast. Sakura's blinding fury turn to utmost bewilderment as her eyes landed on her lacy red panties. Sakura now knew for sure that Itachi had only savored a bite on her sleeping form and that was all. Itachi had allowed her to keep her virginity intact during his nocturnal and inappropriate visit to her apartment.

Itachi had never touch her there but the thought did not dampened Sakura's already simmering anger. Sakura was still intensely aware of Itachi's violation on her body. The thought of him taking advantage of her unconscious form, made Sakura want to go on tearing the Uchiha Compound in search for the lecher.

Sakura's face was contorted with rage and her temper boiled 500 degrees Fahrenheit when her eyes caught sight of the white obi, lying innocently and neatly folded on the chair. With eyes blazing with resentment and wrath, Sakura grabbed the white silk from its perched and tore in to shreds.

Itachi must have welcome himself into her small apartment when he had tried to return the obi to her ,and made a detour to her bed before leaving into the night. Her love bites on her neck was proof enough of the Uchiha Heir's intrusion into her humble abode.

The white silk was in shreds and on the floor but it still did not satisfy Sakura's pent up rage. So Sakura did the only thing that would released the repressed violence within her. She screamed.

"_**UCHIHA ITACHI!**_"

The scream rang like a battle cry on that dewy morning, waking up the still sleeping inhabitants from Konohagakure. The scream frightened the birds in the forest and immediately took flight, away from the sond. As the scream continue to resound over the awakened Village. The Villagers cringe at the sound of it ,while pity settled in the hearts of the Villagers who knew what it meant.

Haruno Sakura was thirsty for blood, and the only person that could satiate her thirst is Uchiha Itachi.

The people who heard the scream took pity on the unfortunate man.

--

The black haired male snuggled on his bed as he smirked on his pillows, his mind lingering on a certain pink haired kunoichi.

The scintillating smell of her flowery scent still clinging to his body.

"_**You're mine, kunoich**_i" Itachi murmured "_**I'll brand you as my own the next time I come to you"**_

_**"**_**_You will be mine"_** Itachi promised as he slowly dozed off.

_**"Mine..." **_

* * *

**R&R PLEASE…………..PLEASE...PLEASE?...please give this fic some love with your comments and perhaps flames. This fic need special attention from you commentators and flamers alike. **

_**Tell me if I made the characters OCC, OK? an I'll rectify it next time I write a itasaku fanfic. It seem all my Itasaku fanfics are OOC, anyways I need you to leave a comment...please?**_

**This is not the sequel to Itch. This is a solo fic that is connected to 'Innocent Touches' that I will be writing after I'm done with the 'Itch'.**

**This is also one of my 'test stories'. I'm testing myself if I could write a M rated story without screwing up so I hope that you will leave some comments regarding this story. Flames and constructive criticism are fine with me. If you must know I've been reading my romance novels to get more information about how to write a M rated stories.  
**

**And I also didn't edit this story so you might noticed that there are many grammatical errors in this story.**

**This is the first time that I have ever written a Rated M story so don't blame me that is sucks big time.**


	2. No Time to Lust Over

**_Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto…._**

**_Warning: LIME AHEAD..._**

--

**Once Upon A Touch**

**Itasaku**

**Rated M**

**Romance/Drama**

**Chapter 2**

_--_

* * *

The Uchiha did not act out his promise yet since he had been called for an A-rank Anbu mission that needed his special attention than a certain pink haired medic. The seasoned Shinobi was sent to a top secret mission that would require him to terminate it for not more than 2 months.

Thinking and lusting about a girl would ruin the entire mission so he had to push the image of the girl from the back of his mind. The Uchiha could not afford to lose his life if he let himself get distracted by her.

Itachi just hope that his lust for the girl would disappear by the end of his missions. His obsession for her had been intense and he had been suffering a major case of erection every now and then when he thought of her. The girl was making him lose control and the Uchiha didn't like losing control.

Itachi vowed that he was not going to allow this obsession to drive him mad with lust.

* * *

Haruno Sakura had been busy with the hospital as usual but her thoughts had never strayed from a certain black haired male. The pink haired kunoichi had been wondering where the older Uchiha had gone and had asked her black haired team mate, Sasuke of the whereabouts of his older brother.

Sasuke had imparted to her that Itachi had gone to a mission, and had left the pink haired medic to contemplate a plan for her to confront the older Uchiha.

Two months had passed and still the medic had no plan in mind. So she had left her thoughts of pummeling the Uchiha for later. She had no time after all…..she could not afford to lost her job by day dreaming about the Uchiha heir.

And Sakura couldn't afford to lose her heart for the second time…..

One brooding Uchiha was enough to make Sakura guard her heart for another.

* * *

"Good morning, Kutetsu-san." Haruno Sakura said as she walked passed the chunnin guard who was leaving the Hokage Tower along with his orally fixated friend. "Good morning, Genma-san."

"It's Genma, Sakura-chan." Genma replied as he scanned the slim body behind the pile of books that the pink haired woman was carrying. The face of the woman was obscured and she had used her skill in recognizing their chakra signatures.

"You want us to carry that for you?" Genma asked as his eyes strayed to the long pale legs beneath the black cycling shorts the kunoichi was wearing.

"No, thanks Genma-san." Sakura replied her voice acidic as she felt the lecherous stare from brown haired chunnin. "The books are light as a leaf so you don't have to worry. I can carry them on my own."

"Suit yourself." Genma shrugged his broad shoulders beneath his green vest. His mouth chewing the senbon while his eyes looked at the female behind the books "You have after all a super strength that rivals the Hokage"

Sakura's brows twitch at the mention of 'super strength' and if it weren't for the books Sakura would have punched the chunnin with her 'super strength'. Genma knew that word 'super strength' was taboo for Sakura but now that the pink haired medic's hands were preoccupied Genma took advantage of it. The kunoichi could no longer hurt a fly while her hands--

SLAM

The brown haired chunnin disappeared in to the sky while the pink haired brushed her hands with a smug look on her face. Sakura turn to the other man who was carrying the books that she had pushed earlier. Sakura took the books from the frozen man who was looking at her with fear in his eyes.

"Thank you, Kutetsu-san for holding my books for me." Sakura said sweetly to the man, giving him a fake smile that would put Sai's fake smiles to shame.

The black haired bobbed his had automatically before leaving the pink haired kunoichi's presence to chase after his fellow chunnin guard. Sakura watched him leave with amusement and continue to walk up the long fight of stairs towards the Hokage Tower.

This was a ritual of some sorts to the pink haired medic. She would picked up her books from the library for her Shishou's research and then go straight to the hospital to start her daily work. This was like the usual routine of her boring life and Sakura had tolerated it but Sakura knew that she needed some change every ones in a while.

Sakura needed to break from the routine and Sakura just hope that her wish would be answered.

* * *

"What is the current situation?" The voluptuous blond asked as she leaned forward with her hands intertwine in front of her. "Are there any suspicious movements?"

"None that I have come across, Hokage-sama" the Anbu said from beneath the wolf mask. The Anbu looked worn out with his Anbu metal vest looking dented and his Anbu uniform was no better. The black clothes that the Anbu was wearing was torn and burnt like he just had been spat out from hell. His long black hair was hanging loosely around his shoulders and his lean form was now gaunt. The blood that had oozed from the open wounds was now dry and the wounds looked like it was already infected. There was a hole the size of a coin on Anbu vest and his black shirt that went straight through his epidermis and dermis tissues. It was just a relief that the wound had not the penetrated through his subcutaneous and visceral organs. Itachi would have died of blood loss if he had suffered a punctured liver.

"It seems that the information that we have received was a false alarm," Uchiha Itachi reported, his eyes look hollow and his face was paler than normal from beneath his mask. The Uchiha looked haggard and starved like he hadn't been eating and sleeping properly since he had taken the mission. "I have been investigating the target's location for about 2 months now but I still did not find any concrete evidence to pinned their alliance with the 7 swordsmen."

The blond Hokage frown at the news and leaned back and surveyed the Anbu in front of her. "So if that is the case, what happen to you then? Have you been found out sniffing around their affairs?"

The Uchiha shook his head and explained how he gotten in that current state.

"I was ambush by Kiri-nins. They thought that I was the one--" Itachi halted when he felt a person nearing the Hokage's Office and Itachi recognized the chakra immediately.

"Go on," The Hokage motion for him to continue while the blond was aware of the presence nearing outside the door.

"They had mistaken me for someone else." Itachi replied and was about to continue explaining when the door to the Hokage's Office open. Itachi turned to look at the pink haired woman but his eyes landed on a pile of books instead. Itachi's eyes darkening as he followed the slender hands that were holding the books to the slim and long creamy skin revealed by the Kunoichi's black cycling shorts.

The Kunoichi still did not noticed his presence, Itachi had hid his chakra to the point that even an ant was would be unaware of his presence. His had turned sharingan as he watched the pink haired medic enter the room.

"Thank you, Hayate-san." Sakura called over her shoulder to the man who had helped her open the door.

"You're Welcome, Sakura-san." Hayate answered as he coughed in his hands, his droopy eyes slowly drifted towards the occupants of the room.

"Hokage-sama, Ibiki has news from the interrogation." Hayate directed his words towards the blond who had suddenly risen from her chair. "Your presence is needed into the Interrogation Department"

"Thanks, Hayate" Tsunade answered and was striding towards the door where Sakura had come to a stop. The blond paused at the doorway to talk to her student.

"Sakura, you tend to the Anbu's wounds while I go see Ibiki." Tsunade ordered as she directed her amber eyes at the woman behind the pile of books. The blond then directed her attention back to the stiff Anbu near her desk. Tsunade's brows furrowed as her eyes leveled with intense sharingan.

"You'll finish your report after I get back from the Interrogation Department." Tsunade said her eyes narrowing when she suddenly felt the Uchiha tensing at her words. Tsunade just noticed that there was a primal gleam on the Uchiha's eyes but it was gone in seconds when the Uchiha had noticed her watchful eyes. Tsunade cast a glance at the Uchiha before looking back at her student who still standing at the doorway.

"Sakura, place the books at my table," Tsunade said and watched as her student walked towards the table where the Uchiha was standing near. "And then don't leave the Office after I come back. I have something important to say to you."

"Yes, Tsunade-shishou." Sakura replied as she carried the pile of books to the direction of the table. Sakura was still unaware of the man as she continues to walk carefully.

Tsunade's frown deepened even more when she suddenly felt the shift in the air. She would have investigated the cause of the unusual aura coming from usually stoic Uchiha but Hayate interfered and distracted her from her intentions.

"Hokage-sama," Hayate said from the doorway, his voice brisk and a little commanding while he looked at the Hokage with droopy and hallow eyes. Tsunade turned to the man who had called her.

"The Interrogation Department." Hayate reminded her and the Hokage nodded her head and strode out from the room. Her hand was about to close the door to the Hokage Office when she felt the full force of the electrifying tension from the room as the Uchiha finally released the negative energy from him.

Tsunade stared at the closed door to the Hokage Office, wondering if she should go back and find out why the Uchiha had suddenly have bouts of raging hormones. Tsunade's eyes darken in comprehension when she finally found out why.

"_Sakura_," Tsunade thought as she reached for the doorknob leading to her office but Hayate held her again.

"Hokage-sama." Hayate said as he began coughing on his hands "Ibiki had been torturing the prisoner to get the information from him and I think the prisoner wouldn't last for long before he succumb to unconsciousness. So we better hurry there before that happens"

Hayate coughed in his hands while he waited for the Hokage to move away from the doorway. Tsunade stopped her hands mid way from reaching the door, her thoughts was still on her student who was currently in the presence of one Uchiha Itachi with an overactive and awaken libido.

"_On second thought……._" Tsunade thought as she withdrew her hands from the doorknob. "_The Uchiha would never dare touch my apprentice while_ _he's in my office."_

"Let's go Hayate," Tsunade said as she walked breezily over the sick looking man. Hayate followed her long and steady out from the Hokage Tower.

"Let's meet that prisoner that Ibiki wanted me to see." Tsunade said seriously as they stepped out into the sun light. Her frown was still on as she cast a glance inside the Hokage Tower.

"_The Uchiha would never dare touch Sakura while I'm still away._" Tsunade assured herself when they had gotten far from the Hokage Tower.

"**_He wouldn't dare_**,"

* * *

**_HOKAGE'S OFFICE_**

Sakura slowly walked towards the direction where the table was as she heard the door closed behind her. She was just a meter away from the table when she felt the sudden movement in front of her.

Sakura sucked a lungful of breath as she felt the tension rise from the man who had made its presence to her by running a large hand on her spine. Sakura almost jumped out from her skin at the contact and the books that she was carrying overbalanced. If it wasn't for a pair of large masculine hand engulfing her small and dainty ones, the book would have fallen. The hands steadied the books while Sakura began to grit her teeth at the man who had the audacity to touch her.

She tried to figure out who the man was with his chakra but the man had suppressed it to the point that she, a medic-nin could not grasp any traces of chakra. Sakura froze as the hands began rubbing her fingers in a small lazy circle, making Sakura shake with outrage.

Sakura tried to move away from the hands but hand had reached for the column of her neck to prevent her from doing of that sort. The book was the only thing that separated her from the unknown and perverted Anbu. The Anbu's visage was obscured by the book she was carrying and Sakura was beginning to simmer with righteous indignation as the Anbu twirled her pink locks in his fingers.

The hands tagged at her hair and before she could blink an eye she was suddenly caged in the desk with a very virile male behind her. The pile of books was already placed in the table diligently like it had been there for a long time. The man behind her moved and Sakura made a gasp as the man pressed his over heated body on her back, making her aware of his desire for her.

Sakura's eyes were on fire as the man continues to sexually assault her. Sakura could feel the man's porcelain mask near her neck as he inhaled her scent. Sakura grabbed the edge of the table as she found herself pushed a little further into the desk with her body almost bent down on the table with a rapist behind her. Sakura could feel the scraped against the cloth of her red shirt as the metal vest of the Anbu rubbed against her. The man was rubbing against her and Sakura could feel the man's arousal pressed against the middle of her back.

Sakura's eyes were flashing as she summoned her chakra into her hands. Sakura was going to tear this maniac from limb to limb and she was going to make sure that he wouldn't passed his perverted genes to his children. Sakura's hands were pulsing with chakra and she was going to beat the maniac with the table when she felt him stiffen. The man suddenly disappeared from her back and Sakura whirled around carrying the table with her. Her Shishou's files and books fell on the ground along with the other assortments that belongs to her shishou.

Sakura heard a bottle breaking but Sakura ignored it. She was already blinded with anger that she couldn't think straight. Sakura would have to buy a new bottle of sake for Shishou for breaking the other one and for the damage that she would caused after she was done with the Anbu maniac.

Sakura raised the table above her head and was ready to throw it from across the room when she caught sight of the Anbu. Sakura froze at the sight of the long raven black hair, lying in disarray around the Anbu's broad shoulders. Sakura instantly knew who she was up against and her anger increased ten fold. Sakura was not only going to tear the man from limb to limb but she would also make sure that he wouldn't be attaching his limbs soon.

Sakura growled as she run towards the Anbu with the table. The table went through the wall but the Anbu was still standing through the gaping hole that she had created. Sakura felt the air around her shifted and Sakura could hear alarming bells on her head as the male's desire to take her had ricocheted high. Sakura's action was only triggering the male's primal instinct to conquer but Sakura wouldn't have any of it.

This arrogant man could go to hell before she submitted to his lust. Sakura would never allow herself to be used and discarded like a piece of clothing by this high and mighty Uchiha. Sakura had never forgiven the Uchiha for taking advantage of her while she was asleep. Sakura just remembered now that the Uchiha had placed her into a genjutsu to have those dreams of him claiming her as his own.

Sakura would never allow the dream to come true. She wouldn't allow it until hell freezes over. Sakura's eyes flashed with determination as she charged at the silent Anbu before her. Sakura's fist was raised as she aimed for his face.

* * *

Itachi watched her through his mask as the kunoichi moved to give the first blow to him. His sharingan was flashing as he watched in slow motion as the girl neared him with her fist raised. The mere scent of her made him hard and he wanted to kissed her senseless until she would submit to him. Itachi moved out of the way with blinding speed but the girl already knew that and raised her other hand to hit his face. Itachi almost did not move in time as the chakra fist hands grazed his porcelain mask.

Itachi should have known not to underestimate the girl. The girl was his little brother's team mate and had encountered the sharingan more often than not. Itachi's mask began to crack but he did not dare make a move to hold the mask as another laden fist made its way towards his stomach.

Itachi was exhausted from his mission that his normal reflexes and speed was lagging and his chakra was almost to the brink. Itachi moved just on time to avoid the full force of the kunoichi's blow and had suffered half of it as he skidded in the floor, his hands above the protrusion of his broken rib.

Itachi's sharigan eyes spun as the girl slowly walked towards him and Itachi couldn't help himself but captivated by the sway of the girl's hips. Itachi's eyes become heated as he watched the playful rise and fall of her chest through the red cloth. Itachi's testosterone was in full alert as the girl finally came to a complete halt in front of him.

The girl did not move to hit him again while Itachi watched her carefully. The creamy complexion of her face was flushed around the cheeks in picture of righteous indignation. Her sensual and pink lips were pursed and her eyes were glittering like a pair of emeralds as she looks up at him. Her head did not reach his chin and she looked small and fragile that Itachi wanted to protect her but Itachi knew that could stand on her own. Like what she was doing now.

"Do not touch me again." the kunoichi said emphasizing each word through her gritted teeth. Her emerald eyes flashing as she pointed a slim finger at him "And do not come close to me."

Itachi watched her through his sharingan, her flowery scent lingering on his nostrils as he continued to peruse his female. The instinct to claim this kunoichi had increased when the girl had showed objections to his claim.

Uchiha Itachi had never taken no for an answer and this wouldn't be the first time.

Itachi would have her by the end of this day.

Itachi would brand her as his.

She would be his.

Itachi would make sure of that.

But for now…..Itachi would have to submit to her request.

Itachi stared at the girl for a moment before closing his eyes and transformed his sharingan back to regular onyx. Itachi opened his eyes again to look down at the girl who merely watched him. Itachi's tried to breathe regularly as he took hold over his rampaging manly desires to claim her.

After months of being away from her, his lust for her had increased and it nearly broke his self control after the Hokage had left the room. Itachi wanted to have his sexual gratification then and there. He wanted to make love to her in the Hokage's table while the Hokage was away. Itachi would have done it if it weren't for the fact that the girl was not willing to participate with his intention. Itachi had never force himself on a woman and he wasn't going to do it now.

Even thought the girl was driving him mad with lust that Itachi was afraid that he would go crazy if he couldn't have her. Itachi had still held back and respected the girl's words. Itachi would withdraw from her for now but when the darkness falls, Itachi would make his move.

Itachi would never let the girl escape.

Whether she wanted or not, Itachi would have her even doing a lot of 'persuasions' to gain her submission.

"Uchiha-san lets have a look at your wounds." the girl said clinically and Itachi move to accommodate her order.

* * *

Sakura was kneeling down in front of the Uchiha as she knitted the torn skin on his muscular arm. Sakura run her chakra over the skin and watched as the open wound began to knit together. Sakura tried not to look at the man who had been watching her closely.

The Uchiha had been silent (which was not a surprise to her) when she had began to heal him. Sakura didn't know what was going on the Uchiha's head and she didn't want to find out, the indication of the bulge on his pants was enough to make Sakura want turn and run in the other direction.

Sakura couldn't help but cast a glance on the male every once in a while and her eyes had always drifted to his arousal, making Sakura's inside and face warm. Her female curiosity had given her enough courage to dwell on the Uchiha's huge package.

The sight of it had almost left her breathless and the dreams of him making love to her were not helping either. Sakura's body reacted to the dream that the Uchiha had implanted when she was asleep. Sakura was ashamed about her thoughts and tried to curb her hormones. If both of them would snap and lost control, Sakura wouldn't want to know what her Shishou was going to tell her if she found them doing it inside her office.

She was half aroused and her face beat red as she moved her hands to the wound on the Uchiha's neck. Sakura could feel him tense as she leaned forward and moved the raven locks away from his broad shoulder. Sakura was about to inspect the wound when suddenly her hand was caught in a tight grip.

Sakura's eyes flew towards the Uchiha who was suddenly breathing hard and the eyes had turn Sharigan again. Sakura felt like she was having a déjà vu as she gazed at the hungry look on the Uchiha's eyes. This had happen before during the Uchiha dinner but they were alone now and Sakura was half aroused and half willing to make the Uchiha have his way with her.

Sakura warding off the Uchiha for not touching her was futile because she was the one who was driving the man to the edge by touching him and Sakura had been enjoying it. Sakura enjoyed touching Itachi's muscular arms when she had healed him. She couldn't stop herself from caressing his pecs when she had healed the coin sized hole on his stomach or feeling the texture of Itachi's strong neck as Sakura had suddenly wrapped her slim finger around them. Sakura's eyes were glazed as she stared at the Uchiha who had narrowed his eyes into slits when he stared at the lust in her eyes.

Sakura's body was on fire at the Uchiha's close proximity and the thought of not letting the Uchiha touch her flew out the window as she tagged his head. Itachi was already breathing hard and was trying to regain some senses into their befogged mind. Itachi pulled his head away from the girl's gentle grip and leaned away from the kiss that would surely make them lose control.

* * *

The grip that he had on the girl tightened as he tried to moved her away from him. Itachi was sure that they would get caught if they continue this and Itachi wouldn't want the Hokage to have a bounty over his head after she saw them in a throes of passion.

"Sakura," Itachi whispered his voice hoarse as he watched the girl leaned towards him again. Itachi's eyes were crushed shut as the girl move her lips over his, softly brushing against each other. Itachi did not respond to the kiss as he tried to hold his control over desire. The Hokage would arrive soon and Itachi wouldn't want her to see them in a compromising position. The girl was already sitting on his lap with her hands gripping his shoulders and his neck. Itachi open his mouth to speak to her but the girl silence him with a kiss that made his body reacted painfully.

Itachi was already aroused from the beginning but now that the girl was the one who was sexually assaulting him with a kiss. Itachi's body was blown all over when he felt he girl's tongue brush against his lower lip. Itachi's hands automatically went behind the girl's head and crushed her surprise lips beneath his own.

Itachi's control broke as he kissed the girl senseless. The girl's chest was pressed against his Anbu vest as his hands made her back arched towards him. The room around them was becoming hotter as their bodies reacted to the tingling sensation of their lips.

The girl's kiss was inexperience but Itachi rectified it by showing her how. Itachi moved his lips over the girl's; slowly at first their closed lips brushing against each other and then tilting their head to side as they continue kissing in a close mouth kiss. Itachi was watching the girl through his thick lashes as she experimented with the kiss.

Itachi slightly opened his mouth to lap his tongue over the girl's lower lip like what she had done earlier. Itachi watched as the girl's eyes flew open to look at him. Itachi smirked before dipping down and claim her mouth. They kissed with their eyes half open, their eyes glittering with heat and lust as Itachi finally taught the girl how to open her mouth as he slipped his tongue inside. Itachi heard the girl moan in her throat as his tongue explored the warm cavern her mouth. Itachi could taste her and Itachi tagged the girl's head forward as his tongue brushed the ceiling of her mouth.

The girl tasted like strawberries and……

Itachi growled deeply in his throat as the girl's tongue met his in a duel. They were becoming breathless as they continue to move their heads in a passionate kiss. Both were starving for one another and the clothes that they were wearing preventing them from totally ravishing each other.

* * *

Sakura moaned as Itachi bit her lower lip before brushing his tongue over it in an apology. Sakura could taste him in her tongue and he tasted like nothing that she had ever tasted. If Itachi was a food, Sakura would picture him as a syrup coated Anko dumplings which was her favorite and Itachi had become one of her favorite.

The most favorite in fact that he had become number one among her boys as she felt Itachi began raining kisses over her neck. Sakura clutched Itachi's broad shoulder as he suddenly dipped his tongue on the shell of her ear, making her back arched. Sakura moaned when the Uchiha had cupped her breast through her clothes, her eyes glazed open to stare at the ceiling.

Sakura finally discovered that they were already sprawled on the Hokage's Office floor in broad daylight with a gaping hole on the wall where someone could see them. Sakura was too distracted to care as responded to the hungry kissed that the Uchiha was giving her. Sakura brushed her tongue over Itachi's upper lip before letting her tongue slip into the crevices. Sakura tilted her head to the side to have a better accessed at the Uchiha's addicting taste. Sakura lips were already swollen from the kissed and her body was flushed with arousal but the Uchiha did not make a move to take off her clothes.

Sakura throw her head back on the floor as Itachi finally touch her bare and heated skin. Sakura hands went to Itachi's Anbu vest and tried to remove it but Itachi took hold of her hand before she could do it. Sakura looked curiously up at the Uchiha who was hovering a foot away from her. Itachi's eyes were sharingan bright and Sakura could see the gleam of unadulterated lust in there, making Sakura shiver in unbridled lust of her own. They were both gasping for air as they stared at each other closely, their bodies hot and aroused. The air around them was filled with sexual tension and was slowly becoming thick as they waited.

Sakura reached out to the man above her to caress his face before moving down to his neck and shoulders. Sakura could feel his arousal pressing against her stomach and Sakura's excitement grew. Sakura could feel wetness pool inside her and it was a clear sign that Sakura was ready to be taken.

Sakura's hands drifted to his Anbu vest before coming to stop over the bulge on his pants.

"_This was like the dream….but only different…."_Sakura thought as her eyes took an evil gleam but the Uchiha didn't notice it since his eyes had closed at her touch. Sakura would have her revenge on the Uchiha for taking advantage of her.

Sakura rubbed Itachi's erection through the cloth of his pants, running one slim finger over the length which had jumped form her touch. Sakura's other hand move towards Itachi's neck to pull him closer to her. Itachi moved without hesitation, his mind enthralled by the way Sakura's hands was moving over his arousal. Sakura kissed him softly on the lips which the Uchiha responded almost desperately as Sakura's hands disappeared inside his pants.

* * *

Itachi's body stiffens as the girl's run her hands over his length, his hands clenched above the girl's head. The girl began moving her hands up and down his shaft that made Itachi grit his teeth to prevent a groan from escaping from his mouth. Itachi distracted himself by nudging his nose at the tip of the girl's chin before nuzzling the girl's neck. Their bodies were already bathe with sweat and Itachi could now smell the girl's arousal in the air.

Itachi's cock twitch as the girl's thumbs brushed the tip of his shaft and Itachi sucked his breath as the girl move her hand up and down in a rhythmic stokes, totally driving him mad with lust.

Itachi's hands were clenching and unclenching above beside their heads as he buried his face on the girl's neck, repressing a moan as the girl increased her speed. Itachi was breathing hard, his eyes dark with lust and sexual tension as the girl took over his aroused body.

Itachi have to thank himself for casting that genjutsu over the girl. The girl had learn well from the illusion and Itachi was enjoying every bit of it as the girl continue to pump her hands over his length. To hell with the Hokage, Itachi was going to have his was the girl in her office.

Itachi growled on the girl's neck as he suddenly felt his climax coming down on him. Itachi's breathing becoming labored as he moved his hands above their head to desperately seek out the girl's hidden treasures. Itachi wouldn't allow the girl to force him into climax while he hadn't been a very good lover to pleasure her like she was pleasuring him now.

Itachi sucked at the girl's neck, earning a moan from her. The girl move her head to the side to allow him a better accessed to her creamy neck. His hands were now moving to the girl's breast and Itachi cupped her breast before began stroking her pert nipples through the cloth that she was wearing. The girl gasped at the contact and her rhythmic stroke on his cock halted. Itachi flicked her nipple while he began nibbling his way towards the shell of her ear where he knew that was a ticklish spot to her. Itachi bit the girl's lobe and the girl's moan became a music to his ear as he continue to licked and nipped the girl's ear.

Their foreheads were glistening with sweat as the tension around them thickens. Itachi felt the girl's hands began moving again and this time it was frantic, making Itachi almost reached his climax at the friction and the tight hold that the girl have on him. Itachi's body tensing as he felt his cocked tightened in a clear sign that he was going to climax.

Itachi's hands hovered above her navel before dipping down towards the area where……

The girl's hand left his cock to grasp his hand that was hovering dangerously closed to her carnal treasure. Itachi's heart beat was racing and his body was aching painfully when the girl had suddenly stopped her ministration in the brink of his climax. Itachi's sharingan was glittering with pain and pleasure as he raised his head to look at the girl with confusion in his eyes. Itachi gazed at the girl through his sooty lashes and what he found there made his sharingan spun dangerously.

The girl was breathing heavily the same as he was but her eyes were now alert and was glaring up at him. Itachi could still see the lust there but it was nothing compared the all consuming lust that she had exhibited earlier. The girl's face was flushed and her lips were swollen as she looked at him through her flashing green eyes.

"This is all you can get from me, Uchiha" the girl spat before pushing him away. Itachi rolled to the side while the kunoichi scrambled to her feet. Itachi sat up before scrambling after her with great speed. The girl was almost to the door when Itachi had caught up with her. Itachi slammed the girl to the door none so gentle before pinning her body with his. Itachi heard her squeaked but Itachi was too angry to care if he hurt her.

The girl had just played with him and Itachi was not going to forgive her for that.

"Kunoichi, you're going to pay for what you've done." Itachi drawled in her ears before pressing his body to her, his erection straining against his pants that he had covered earlier. The girl began to struggle beneath him and her struggles had a totally increased his already aroused and climax deprived body.

"Kunoichi, ceased your struggles." Itachi ordered sternly as he took the girl's struggling hands and slammed it against the wooden panel above their heads. Itachi tightened his hold on the girl's slim wrist as the girl tried to draw chakra into to them. Itachi heard a snapped and the girl cried out in pain as her left wrist was broken.

Itachi's eyes widen slightly before turning back into its original size. Itachi had hurt the girl just because his male ego had been bruised at what the girl had done to him. Itachi's eyes glittered with self disgust as what he had done and his gripped loosen on the girl before totally releasing her from him.

Itachi turned and walked away from her, his mind preoccupied with thoughts self loathing and contempt. Itachi had almost forced himself on her and Itachi would never forgive himself if he broke her.

Itachi stood near the Hokage's table, his ardor had cooled replaced by hollow feeling of defeat as he heard the small cries coming from the kunoichi. Itachi did not dare look at her and tried hard to ignore the heart breaking sobs coming from the pink haired kunoichi.

Itachi had lost.

Itachi would never win the girl's trust much less her submission after hurting her. Itachi had never admitted defeat until now. His blind rage and lust had made him lost control and had hurt a girl for the first time. Itachi had always been an attentive and gentle when giving attention towards his lovers but this girl had made him lost control and had made him a brute instead.

This girl was slowly making him lost control and Itachi did not like it one bit. Itachi would have to distance himself from the girl from here on and pursuing her was out of the question. The girl really did not want him, even though her body was telling the exact opposite. Itachi needed a woman who will give her entire being to him.

Itachi wanted her entirely, mind and body but he could not have her. Itachi already knew that, that was why he wanted her so badly. She was like a forbidden fruit to him and Itachi had always wanted a challenge but this challenge would have to be ignored.

Itachi wouldn't want to hurt the girl again. Itachi would find a willing woman to distract him from her …as much as he wanted her, Itachi should have to give her up.

Itachi would never bother her in the future.

"Kunoichi," Itachi spoke his voice a deep rumble in his chest as he addressed the crying girl slumped on the floor. Itachi did not look at her, afraid that she would see something that he didn't want her to see.

And it was the regret in his eyes…. Itachi regretted making that decision.

"I would not come near you or touch you in the future." Itachi said tonelessly over the girl who had suddenly quieted at his voice.

"So you shouldn't worry. Our paths will never crossed again from this day onwards."

"**_I'll make sure of that."_**

* * *

**_2 YEARS LATER……._**

"Sakura this is Itachi's fiancée, Uchiha Shinshi." Sasuke introduced the blond and beautiful woman to Sakura. The woman gave her a friendly smile and Sakura eyed her for a moment before giving her a tight smile in return.

"Shinshi meet my girlfriend, Haruno Sakura" Sasuke said as he wrapped his arm around Sakura's small waist and squeezing in a sign of assurance. Sakura leaned over Sasuke's comforting warmth before raising her hand for the blond woman to shake.

"Nice to meet you, Shinshi-san." Sakura chirped happily while her boyfriend gave her a curious stare at her sudden enthusiasm. Sakura ignored the stare as she shook the woman's hand vigorously.

"Nice to meet you too, Sakura-san." Shinshi said wincing as Sakura 'accidentally' tightened her hand on the woman's hand.

"Sorry about that Shinshi-san, I have a strong grip you know." Sakura explained as she withdrew her hand from the blond woman who was wincing as her hand had suddenly gone numb.

"It's alright, Sakura-san." Shinshi said, giving Sakura an understanding smile as she dropped her hands to the side. "Sasuke told me that you've got a super strength."

Sakura's brows twitched at the word and Sasuke stiffen beside her but since Sakura was a guest in the Uchiha Compound. Sakura let the blond woman go with her limbs still intact.

"…Really? Sasuke told you that?" Sakura asked as she 'accidentally' nudged her boyfriend. Sasuke grunted but Sakura did not look at him, her eyes were glued to the future matriarch of the Uchiha Clan. "So my 'boyfriend' has been --"

"Your boyfriend?" a drawled from behind them and Sakura whipped her head to look at the owner of the voice.

Deep onyx met wide emeralds and locked.

"I have never thought that Sasuke had a girlfriend." Itachi said bluntly as he stared at her.

"Since when did he court you?"

Sakura could feel her 'boyfriend' moved beside her and found herself pressed against a warm hard chest. Sakura looked up at Sasuke who was giving her a half smirk and a half smile. Sakura read the expression in his eyes and she knew that her part had come. Sakura made her eyes softened as she gazed at her 'boyfriend'.

"2 years ago," Sakura murmured as she stared at Sasuke's deep blue eyes before turning to the man who had made his way to the blond woman. "We've been dating for 2 years."

--

Itachi's eyes narrowed at the look on her eyes before looking at his brother and then back at her. Something painful throbbed in his chest as he gazed at the soft look on the girl's eyes.

The girl was in love with his little brother.

--

Sakura looked at the man before her, her eyes alight with love but it was not directed at the man who was holding her.

Sakura was gazing at the man she had fallen in love for the past two years of being apart.

Yes, her heart had grown fonder over the past two years to the man who had made a vow to never touch her again.

--

The tinkling laughter and the eruption of conversation both disappeared from the background as they stared at each other from the distances. They were no longer in the Uchiha Compound where they were celebrating the Uchiha Heir's engagement party but were now locked into their own two worlds .Only finding solace to touch each other with their eyes and not the kind of touch that could rekindle the dying embers of their blazing desire for one another.

Their complete and unorthodox attraction had sparked by just a simple 'Once upon a touch'

And it was the power of their touch that drive them to the edge where they could never find their happily-ever-after.

--

--

--

--

O/.\O

**_To be continued.........  
_**

* * *

**_PLEASE REVIEW….._**

**_Thanks for the reviews: Pink Blossom Princess, ladyuchiha81, Awiii, nickeledwards, Yami Uchiha, Cherrykittykat, TwistedBumbleBee ,Fae Gem Whiteberry, SMOke13,ArjunaAnja,reader713,erine_**

**_Also thanks for Yami Uchiha for editing this story._**

If you want me to continue this story just tell me,okay?

I already got an epilogue under my sleeves to end this story once and for all.


	3. Cornered

_**Disclaimer:**_ We know for a fact that Masashi Kishimoto owns Naruto. So don't sue me for using his characters.

---------------------------------

**Once Upon a Touch**

**Romance/ Drama**

**Rated T**

**Itasaku**

**Chapter 3**

**-------------------------------------  
**

* * *

**_RECAP_**

_Deep onyx met wide emeralds and locked._

"_I have never thought that Sasuke had a girlfriend" Itachi said bluntly as he stared at her._

"_Since when did he court you?"_

_Sakura could feel her 'boyfriend' moved beside her and found herself pressed against a warm hard chest. Sakura looked up at Sasuke who was giving her a half smirk and a half smile. Sakura read the expression in his eyes and she knew that her part had come. Sakura made her eyes softened as she gazed at her 'boyfriend'. _

"_2 years ago" Sakura murmured as she stared at Sasuke's deep blue eyes before turning to the man who had made his way to the blond woman. "We've been dating for 2 years"_

_----------_

_Itachi's eyes narrowed at the look on her eyes before looking at his brother and then back at her. Something painful throbbed in his chest as he gazed at the soft look on the girl's eyes._

_The girl was in love with his little brother._

_---------_

_Sakura looked at the man before her, her eyes alight with love but it was not directed at the man who was holding her._

_Sakura was gazing at the man she had fallen in love for the past two years of being apart._

_Yes, her heart had grown fonder over the past two years to the man who had made a vow to never touch her again._

_-----------_

_The tinkling laughter and the eruption of conversation both disappeared around them as they stared at each other from the distance. They were no longer in the Uchiha Compound where they were celebrating the Uchiha Heir's engagement party. They were now locked into their own two worlds where they only found the solace to touch each other with their eyes but not the touch that could rekindle the dying embers of their blazing desire for one another._

_Their complete and unorthodox attraction had sparked by just a simple 'Once upon a touch' _

_And it was the power of their touch that drive them to the edge where they could never find their happily-ever-after. _

_Or is it?_

_

* * *

**Present**  
_

Sakura waited as she stood there, staring at the still waters of the small pond, encompassed by a girdle of thick trees and a clump of bushes providing the place a sense of privacy and tranquility. Sakura could hear the tinkle of laughter and the burst of conversation from the other side of the enclosure, as the engagement party continue to progress.

Sakura shuffled towards the edge of the pond, the hem of her patterned kimono softly brushing against the grass as she gazed at the dark murky depths of the water. She watched in silent appreciation as the moon and the stars reflected on the dark surface of the pond, while the trees casting shadows around her. The clearing was silent except for the sound of the chirping crickets and the rustling of leaves as the cold breeze blew by.

"What do you want, Uchiha-san?" Sakura asked softly to the man who had masked his presence moments ago. Sakura could detect him standing a few meters behind her, and judging by the dark aura around him, Itachi was imperceptibly furious.

"I should be the one asking that Haruno-san" Sakura tried not to flinch from the way the Uchiha had addressed her. Itachi's voice was not the usual polite tone that he used when talking to her and Sakura almost shivered when Itachi spoke again.

"Why are you here Haruno-san?" Itachi asked, although his voice was neutral but there was a hint of coldness and anger which Sakura find unsettling and a little perplexed. "Why come here at my engagement party?"

"….with my little brother no less" Itachi added with sheer amount of sarcasm and Sakura knew that the statement was not a question but an accusation. She clenched her fist and whirled around to look at the man who dared accused her of something that she didn't even know doing until now.

"What are you implying at, Uchiha-san?" Sakura asked, extremely incense as her emerald eyes clashed with ruby. She stared at the glowing eyes piercing through the darkness. She could not see his face or his form since Itachi had shrouded himself amongst the shadows of the trees. She held his impassive gaze, while she felt him took a step forward, his footstep silent and stealthy, proving his years of being an elite and deadly assassin.

"All I'm saying Haruno-san is that my brother had never mention a girlfriend until now…." Itachi replied his voice as cold as ice, his ruby gaze sharp and unwavering as he watched her closely. "…..Now that I'm to be married with---"

"Uchiha-san" Sakura said calmly but ominously, her eyes alight with anger and hurt at the implication of the Uchiha. She knew what Itachi was trying to say and it made her feel betrayed that the Uchiha had thought less of her.

"Are you trying to say that my true intentions here, is to intervene with your engagement?" Sakura queried, her voice becoming dangerously low and her eyes blazing with ire.

"Yes" Itachi succinct as he stepped out from the shadows that obscured him from Sakura's view. Sakura could clearly see his features now, making her heart ached at the sight of it. Itachi's answer went unnoticed, as her mind had flown away the instant Itachi step from the shadows. Revealing his strong and well define arrogant features that did not fail to make Sakura's knees weak by the sheer sight of him.

Itachi was wearing a dark blue kimono and a black hakama. His black haori tapering over his wide shoulders, with 5 kamons bedecked on his chest, shoulders and back. The obi was the same color as the rest of his dark and formal attire, showing off his devastating dark looks and his tall stature. Uchiha Itachi look sublime in his nobly handsome and dignified dark finery, but what impelled her to him was not all that.

Sakura was totally drawn to his raw power and the blatant virility that she could see in those ruby eyes of his. Eyes far more experience and knowledgeable than her own, he was a man, in every sense of the word, and Sakura was entirely smitten by him. But Sakura knew that there was more to this man than what meets the eye. Uchiha Itachi was not only a weathered and callous shinobi, but he was also a gentle soul who hides his true persona in a stoic demeanor. Sakura was just one of the few who had seen a side of his subtle sensitivity, which he usually veil with his aloofness and unperturbed mask. He was all that she dream and wanted. He was all that she had desired and loved, but she could not have him. It was already too late, and he was already too far.

He was out of reach, and out of touch. Sakura could never have him now.

The panther-black bangs that contrasted with his pale smooth skin, making him look breathtakingly beautiful that Sakura reverently trace with her eyes. Sakura was utterly and absurdly besotted to him, and with growing trepidation, Sakura could not shake the feeling of longing as she ventured her eyes over his handsome features. Her knees were quivering like she could no longer support her weight, and the rampaging butterflies in her stomach was not helping either.

Sakura was not the only one who was giving a careful perusal, but Itachi too. Itachi had also scanned her small form the moment he stepped out from the shadows, his eyes moving from the top of her coiffed hair to the tabi socks peeking through the hem of her ivory colored kimono. Every detail of her physical assets was instilled into his fertile mind. Grasping and tweaking the image of herself in a way that made her looked like she an impervious specimen under a microscope. The lilac colored butterflies of different shapes and sizes that adorned her silk kimono in exquisite and intricate brocade had been indolently noted. Even the lilac obi that wrapped around her small waist did not go unobserved, and was now stored in Itachi's long term memory.

Silence ensues as they continue to appraise and scrutinize one another. Never leaving anything behind, now that they finally have the time to stop and stare at each others beauty and flaws. Every arcs, curves and contours on each others features was carefully explored. Every slanting lines and unnoticeable crinkles on the eyes and mouth were deftly inspected. Not even the minuscule dark spots on Itachi's high cheekbones, which Sakura suspected as freckles, did not go unobserved under Sakura's scrutinizing eyes, who carefully and thoroughly surveyed them with her unabashed emerald orbs. She was just appraising Itachi's thick long lashes when her reverie was broken by the sound of his voice.

"Why are you here?" Uchiha Itachi repeated tersely, his voice cold and his eyes sharp as he regarded her closely. "Why come here at my engagement party?"

Sakura cautiously locked her eyes with his; her eyes had narrowed when she heard the accusation in his baritone voice. She was now intensely aware of the leashed fury in Itachi by the way his jaw was set and the indiscernible tensing of his wide shoulders, making Sakura quaked in nervousness and fear as the full force of his glare hit her like a bucket of ice cold water which she instinctively avoided.

She knew by the sound of Itachi's voice and by the unusual gleam in his eyes that this sudden invasion of her lonesome time was not because he was there to dillydally. Uchiha Itachi was there because he meant business, and by business, it means that he was going to interrogate her of her 'impromptu' appearance in the Uchiha Compound.

However, Sakura did not know what Itachi wanted to gain from her, if she answers his question. But, Sakura had a niggling suspicion that there was more to this than what Itachi let on. Nevertheless, Sakura was still angry at the reproach and accusation that she had surmised in the timbre of his cold voice.

_Does he really think that she was there to stop him from getting engaged to that spineless pea goose? How dare he? The thought had never even crossed her mind, much less enact such horrendous schemes. _

"I am here Uchiha-san, because 'my boyfriend'—"Sakura enunciate the word to him, her eyes blazing with contempt. "—invited me here….now if you wouldn't mind I want to have some peace for my own"

Sakura turn away from him to look at the twinkling stars above her, glittering like jewels on a black velvet canopy. Sakura didn't want him to see the pain that he had brought from his insinuations earlier.

_Itachi had thought of her as a scheming woman, who was going to ruin the engagement party, and seduce him from the future bride? The Uchiha had thought wrong! Sakura would never do that, even though she loved the man dearly. Sakura would never steep that low._

"Remember whose household you're in, kunoichi" Itachi's voice said blandly from her back and Sakura's face flooded with color. Sakura was angry that the Uchiha had called her 'kunoichi' instead of the normal 'Haruno-san' which he had often called her when they were in public. Other than that fact, Sakura was also embarrassed with herself for ordering the Uchiha to leave her alone. She was just a guest in the Uchiha Compound after all, and Itachi did not deserve such treatment from her. Sakura's face was suffused with color, which immediately deepen when Itachi continued to infuriate her with his cool tone.

"You're merely a guest in this Compound, and I won't hesitate to throw you out for your impertinence" Itachi remarked coolly, while Sakura immediately stiffen at the threat. Whirling around, she glared at the man, her ivory kimono swirled while the oyster shells on her Kanzashi swung wildly on her coiffure.

The small embarrassment that she had experience earlier was replace by boiling hot anger as her eyes met the cold and blank stare of the man she loves, her heart almost breaking at the sight of it. Uchiha Itachi clearly did not want her there. Sakura could not deduce why the Uchiha had showed this utter distaste and coldness towards her since she had arrived there. He hadn't been like this since her last encounter with him at the hospital.

This was the first time that they had spoken alone and informally after 2 years. After the faithful day at the Hokage Tower, they had only spoken to each other when it was out of necessity and propriety. The Uchiha had always been polite to her during his stay at the Hospital, or when they meet in public. Even if Itachi had only spoken a few words in greeting, and a snatches of conversation here and there, but it was far from the cold shoulder that the Uchiha was exhibiting now.

"What is your true purpose here, Kunoichi?" The man had the nerve to ask her twice, she watched scrupulously as he swoop towards her like a hawk on his prey,and thereby, making Sakura took a step back. The heels of her zori made a splash as it encountered the murky waters of the pond, with the water seeping through her ivory kimono and fresh tabi socks, while her spine had gone rigid as the man close the distance between them.

_The man had already accused her of a fault that she did not do, and now he was trying to pry an answer from her? If he already thought that she was just a low despicable woman, then why would he press the matter?_

Sakura shook with fear and…..and was it longing? Sakura didn't know….She really didn't know anything when it comes to this cold and callous man. Sakura didn't know how she had move from lusting after him, to loving him. Sakura could still remember when she had found out that she had fallen in love with the Uchiha. It was after the episode in the Hokage Tower that Sakura unprecedentedly find herself ensnared by the Uchiha's potent attraction.

They have to thank that the Hokage had been detain in the Interrogation Department for more than an hour. They wouldn't want the Hokage to see the disaster that had befallen on her Office. The pile of books and stack of papers had been strewn on the ground when Sakura had aimed the table at the arrogant Uchiha. Shard of broken glasses clustered on the ground with its contents drenching the Hokage's files and books. The Office was reeking with the stench of sake along with the traces of their own arousal when someone had step inside the Office.

The Hokage had sent someone to inform them that the meeting had been postponed. The messenger had been far from shocked when he had seen the wrecked on the Office, but the he was intelligent enough not to ask them. The Uchiha had been on the other side of the room, while she, hers. Sakura had kept a distance away from the nonplussed Uchiha before the messenger had arrived. The air around them had been thick and crackled with taut tension in which they did not do anything to repress it.

The tears that she had shed after the brutish action of the Uchiha had dried, and her broken wrist healed after regaining some of the remnants of her composure. Itachi had been silent as they waited for the Hokage to return. Never even deigning a furtive glance in her direction when she had healed her broken wrist, nor mumbling an apology for his sudden boorish onslaught. She had been distraught when the Uchiha had attack her from behind. At first, Sakura had thought that the beast of a man was going to force himself on her.

Sakura had never felt fear like she had felt when Itachi had crushed her to the door. She had been shocked from the unbridled anger that the Uchiha had showed her, and what was worse is that she had enjoyed the feel of his aroused body pressing against her. Sakura had regretted playing with the Uchiha, and for not allowing him to take her. She knew that having a wild affair with an Uchiha would lead her to a complete messed. She was afraid that she would fall in love with him, while he only saw her as someone to satisfy his manly desires. Sakura would never allow that to happen.

Sakura would never abandon her precepts of giving herself to the man she loves, and who loves her in return. Despite her inhibited desire to surrender herself to him, Sakura had resisted and retreated from their foreplay before her lust for the Uchiha would irrevocably blind her judgment, and before she could succumb to his sinful allure. It was a painful decision indeed.

Sakura had definitely wanted the Uchiha to take her, but she had relinquished that inane idea to preserve her dream of yielding herself to the man she loves. She would never submit to the Uchiha however much she wanted to.

Henceforth, two years had passed without them tearing off their clothes in a sexual frenzy. It was also two years later that Haruno Sakura had held a torch for the raven haired man like so many women before her. The moment that they had stepped out from the Hokage Office, the preceding days, weeks, months and years that followed was a slow sign of Haruno Sakura's progress to a broken heart. Sakura could still not shake the heated moments that she had with the Uchiha. The memories of him, and the pleasure that he had evoke within her was enough to keep her awake at nights, moaning his name.

Sakura was still in total lust for the Uchiha, and the months after that, she couldn't help but devoutly hope that he would come and make his claim. Her hopes were crushed when Sasuke inform her that Itachi had had an affair with an Anbu elite woman. She had been devastated at the news, and that was when she enlighten that her lust for the Uchiha had grown into something else. She was becoming absurdly fascinated by him in a very naughty way. The dreams that she have of him were becoming relentless, venturing on more dark forbidden areas. It was no more than naught that she had encountered his expert and skillful hands when her head hit the pillow, and she had welcome the erotic pleasures with ardent jubilation.

Her strong fascination for the virile man was put to a test when the Uchiha had been admitted to the Hospital in a critical state. Sakura was beside herself with worry at the mere sight of his bloody form, and had almost cried during the emergency procedure, but she restrained herself. The iron clad medic in her had kept the tears at bay while she operated over him. She had healed him for grueling hours after hours until she had lost consciousness.

Sakura had used her healing jutsu, but all of it was for naught since Itachi was already at deaths door before he had arrive at the Hospital. Itachi had lost a great amount of blood, and Sakura's chakra had already been depleted after healing other patients. Despite Sakura's low on chakra, she had continued on with the entire procedure, even risking everything for the sake of the Uchiha.

Aside from testing her feelings for the injured man, Sakura's role as a medic-nin was also put to the test. There was a huge gaping hole on Itachi's chest where his left lung had been, and she was already running out of time, and Itachi was losing a lot of blood. So Sakura had done the only thing that she can to help him, she had breached the medic-nins code of ethics.

She had used her life force to heal the fatal wound, and had used the remains of her chakra to heal the rest of his minor but vital injuries. Her shishou had been against her decision, but Sakura had been stubborn and had gone on with the entire operation. Sakura had forbid Shizune and her shishou to keep it a secret, she didn't want for Itachi to know that she had given 1/3 of her life force to him.

The operation was a success, but Sakura had been unconscious before she could discover that Itachi was out from harms way. After she had regain consciousness, Sakura was ordered to take a break, but she wouldn't have it. Sakura had insisted that she was going to look after Itachi herself. Her shishou had been reluctant to allow Sakura to do as she wishes.

Tsunade-shishou had been like a surrogate mother to Sakura, but it was unbeknown to her that her shishou had already guessed her feelings for the Uchiha.

The voluptuous blond had been detained in the Investigation Department for more than an hour, and she had totally blown a top off when she had entered her Office. She had already felt something amiss when she had step inside the Hokage Tower, her unsurprised amber gaze had met the sight of her wrecked Office. But what ticked her off though, was the sight of the broken shards of glasses which had formerly been her well hidden bottle of sake. Tsunade had immediately hunted down the culprits and gave them a whiplash that they rightfully deserve.

Tsuande had summoned them back to the Hokage Tower, but this time, they were already prepared. They have to thank themselves that they had gone home before they could face the Hokage again. Sakura was still badly shaken from the passionate encounter with the Uchiha, and had schooled her features when the Hokage had confronted them. Tsunade had immediately asked the inevitable question that neither of them had answered at first. Not until the Hokage threatened to strip them off of their shinobi ranks that Itachi gave a credible explanation to the Hokage without divulging any of their libidinous acts.

Itachi had calmly explained to the Hokage that the wrecked on the Office had surmounted from his unwitting provocation of a very violent woman. Sakura of course, had simmered with rage for being referred to as a 'violent woman'. She would have shown Itachi her 'violent' nature if the Hokage had not intervened, and thus proving Itachi's statement to be true. The Hokage had accepted Itachi's explanation begrudgingly, since Sakura had remained obstinate in eluding the drilling questions.

The Hokage already had a high suspicion to what had really transpired in her office. The questions that she had asked them were just a show of confirmation. The non verbal cues and the impregnable silence that they had portrayed when faced by her penetrating questions, was evidence enough to confirm her suspicions. Both the Uchiha and her apprentice didn't know that their arousal had been so strong that it clung to her Office when she had entered. Tsunade had been hard pressed to purify the air with her perfume, afraid that her reputation would be tarnished for being susceptible to a dirty deed that she did not do. If that ever happen, Tsunade was going to put the blame on the Uchiha, he was after all the one who seduce her sweet and innocent apprentice.

Tsunade would have hunted the Uchiha down for doing just that, but the busty blond had chosen to threaten the Uchiha of castration and other inhumane tortures if he came near to her apprentice again. However, the Uchiha had been unnervingly acquiescence while she had hurled the threats at him. The Hokage wondered if the Uchiha had even conceded to her severe intimidation. She nevertheless permitted him to leave without passing through her chakra laden fists.

The subject that they had discussed had never arisen again, and the threats that the Hokage had thrown at the Uchiha was never enacted. Since the ever elusive shinobi had been force to take as many Anbu missions from Hokage, and had been reluctantly swayed into taking mistresses, rather than going after the one he truly desired.

Sakura on the other had never found out about it, she had thought Itachi had distance himself from her, because of the promise that he had made. Sakura didn't know of course that if it wasn't for her shishou watching Itachi's every move. Itachi would have broken the promise, and would have come to her bed unbidden. So that was why the Hokage had taken pity over Sakura and allowed her to nurse the bedridden Uchiha, finally consenting to the undeniable attraction between her apprentice and the Uchiha heir.

But the Hokage did not realize that her actions could commence the overwhelming drama that would follow.

After the Hokage reluctantly yielded to her heart-stirring pleas, Sakura had made herself as Itachi's personal nurse. And by that time, Sakura already knew that she loves him. Itachi had been exceptionally polite to her, except for one instance when she had introduced herself as his assign nurse. The aloof man had curtly ordered her to leave his presence like specks of dust easily brush off. But Sakura had been absolutely furious, and had given him a lecture that divested the insufferable man incapable of hearing for the next few hours.

Sakura was all smiles when Itachi had surly complied with her forceful request. For the next few days, Itachi had allowed her to look after him, and that was when Sakura got the chance to gauge his mysterious and magnetic character, making many believable excuses to spent time with him. Even though their relationship had only been purely professional. It was more than enough to satisfy Sakura's longing to be near him.

Sakura had been noticeably sanguine during the days that she had devoted her time bringing Itachi back to health. She had been depicting a picture of gaiety and benevolence when she had come out from his ward, every time she had caught glimpses of the true man beneath the inscrutable mask. In those few instances, Sakura had seen him looking at her through his hooded lashes with a sly smile on his lips, but he did not make bold move to touch her. Sakura had been oppressively aware of his stare, and if her intuition was correct, Itachi was deliberately making her uncomfortable and weak on the knees by his brooding and furtive glances.

The Uchiha had been blatantly obvious with what was on his mind every time his eyes drifted towards her curves. Despite the pristine and professional air that surrounded Sakura, Itachi still had way in breaking through her rigid disposition. And had often left her looking flustered and a little perplexed every time she left his room.

The spring on her steps when she walked towards Itachi's ward had not gone unnoticed by the Hospital staff ,or the flushed on her cheeks when she had flee from the same room that she had entered almost everyday. Sakura's feelings for the Uchiha had been the topic of speculation amongst the Hospital staff, and it had spread to the Konoha's grapevine almost instantly. She was then labeled as one of Itachi's fan girls who dote for Itachi's attention, but it soon disappeared when a medic-nin, loitering outside Itachi's ward, had caught sight of the Uchiha showing sign of interest towards the pink haired kunoichi. Sakura's shishou however stopped the woman before she could spread the words, while Sakura had been ignorant of it since she was too immersed in taking care of the Uchiha.

Itachi didn't talk much, that she already expects, but Sakura noticed the vague shift of emotion in his eyes when he talks to his family during their visits. The Uchiha Matriarch,Uchiha Mikoto, had been very kind and thoughtful to her every time she visited Itachi. The docile and sweet woman had always given Sakura one of her delicious onigiri and tempura, which she had enjoyed sharing with a particular brooding Uchiha.

Uchiha Sasuke had stayed with his older brother for more than one occasion, leaving Sakura a chance to linger in Itachi's private ward a little longer. Both of the dark haired male had always lapsed into a glum silence when they were together, but Sakura was there to remedy that. And the gloomy air that had been hanging around Itachi's ward would instantly dispersed by her infections smiles and radiant persona, only to come back later when Uchiha Fugaku would come to visit.

The Head of the Clan had never acknowledged her presence when she has been tending the eldest son, but the saturnine man nevertheless tolerated her presence. She was after all, the care taker of Itachi's well-being. Uchiha Fugaku had been coldly civilized to her, while she to him, but there civility did not passed the boundaries of professionalism. Fugaku had only regarded her as a license medic-nin, and detested the filth that came along with her civilian background.

Uchiha Fugaku barely spoke to her in retrospect to the biting retort that she had given to him 2 years ago. Fugaku was a unforgiving man to hold the one word that she had spoken to him, against her. Sakura did not care less anyway; she was not going to grovel for forgiveness. She still has a pride after all.

It took only 2 weeks for Itachi to recover, and Sakura had been dismayed when he had been released from the Hospital, only knowing him for a short while, and leaving her wanting for more. Sakura had learned more of him but it was not enough to satisfy the ached in her heart. Sakura still needed to be near him.

The preceding weeks and months after that, Sakura had contented herself to just loving him from afar and listening to Sasuke's stories about Itachi's Anbu missions and his love life. Sakura had been aware of Itachi's clandestine love affairs with the elite women from the Anbu Ops , and Sakura had been absolutely heart broken with the irrefutable facts.

Sakura had never thought that the Uchiha had been a playboy. Itachi had always held an icy aura around him that made people believe that he was unapproachable, but after what she had heard from Sasuke, Sakura's opinion of him had drastically change, although she still loved him, but the image of the man that she had spent caring in the hospital had been placed by a man with a sexual cravings that of a teenage boy.

Sakura had seen a good side of him during their interaction at the Hospital, and that was who she had fallen in love with. Shisui, Itachi's cousin and team mate, had told her that their Anbu team had been coming back from their A-rank mission when they had seen a carriage carrying a Daimyo from another country getting ambush ,and their team had swiftly rescue them. Itachi had been critically injured after protecting the Daimyo's daughter from a nins attack. Itachi's team had immediately set back towards Konoha with him lying unconscious in Shisui's make-shift hammock, they have to thank Kami that they were near the Konoha borders when the cloud nins had attack. If that wasn't the case, Itachi would have died of blood loss on the way to Konoha.

Sakura had been relieved and grateful after she heard the story, and Sakura's love for Itachi had grown since then. It was ironic really, when Itachi had been interested in taking her, Sakura had resisted because she was not in love with him then. While now that she had fallen in love with him, Itachi had chosen to leave her alone, and had vowed to never touch her again.

All of her hidden longing for him would have come true if it weren't for the fact that Itachi was already betrothed to someone. Sakura had been drawn to him by some overpowering magnetic force since the beginning and it only increased a hundredfold, now that she find him irresistible and forbidden.

With a grace of a deadly assassin that had been ingrain in him since he was born, Uchiha Itachi bore down on her like a predator on his prey. His eyes were cold and hard like a pair of unfathomable rubies as they held her gaze.

Sakura's heart thudded as she watched him slicked towards her. Adrenaline was coursing through her veins and desire fogging her senses, immediately rendering her immobile and could only stare at the untamed gleam on Itachi's eyes as he continued to close the distance between them.

Leashed desire and anger was all Uchiha Itachi could feel as he strode gracefully towards the woman who had tormented his dreams for the past 2 years. He watched the play of emotions on her emerald orbs, finding it amusing that he could have such great effects on this femme fatale. Itachi had seen the fleeting desire there, and the lethal attraction that she had for him which instantly stoked Itachi's fiery passion to take her, but he was not there to do just that. He was there for one purpose only, and that was to end this madness. Itachi was not going to allow this woman to ruin his life again, now that he had finally brought order to it.

The sexual exploits that he had leaded had been just a diversion to him. Itachi had been out of it, and the only thing that could quell his desire for the kunoichi was taking more Anbu missions and finding other woman to warm his bed, but none of it had worked. The image of the girl had been constantly in his mind and had plagued him everyday, becoming an encumbrance to his missions and his non existent social life.

Itachi hadn't been content with any other woman, and had changed partners when he got tired of them or they become too clingy. The Anbu missions that had kept him busy was not enough to keep his mind from wandering. So Itachi had continued to pursue other woman and had taken as many Anbu Missions as he can, but all that was futile. Itachi could still remember her, even though he was with another woman. All of his love affairs had ended with bitter tears from the women and an ounce of frustration from him.

The carnal pleasure that he had with his former lovers were nothing but to quench his sexual frustration for the pink haired kunoichi, with him comparing them to Sakura. It was a countless of times that his lovers had been extremely piqued when they realized that Itachi had been thinking of another woman during their throes of passion. The name that would pass through his lips during his climax was not the name of his former lovers, but Sakura's. Itachi knew then that he could not cure this insatiable lust once he could have her for his own.

Itachi was still restless for something and he knew that it was of this girl. Itachi's desire to claim her for his own had not diminished and had only multiplied ten fold when she was apart from him.

The moments that he had spent time with her at the hospital had been short, which had left him seeking other woman's company instead of succumbing to the temptation of the pink haired siren. He did not trust himself when he was around with the girl, albeit the girl had been professional when she had treated him, Itachi had been avidly aware of her enticing figure beneath the medic-nin's outfit she was wearing. The clothes did not do justice to conceal her tempting curves from his hungry and observant gaze, giving him pure hell by just watching her and not having her.

Every time she came to his ward to check his injuries, Itachi had almost lost control when she had touch his bare chest with her medical hands. He was already thinking of pushing her into his hospital bed when a nurse had burst in to the room before he could do so. Itachi had been agitated when the kunoichi had left the room, but he was relieved that the medic-nin had not noticed anything particularly wrong with him after wards. Itachi should have replaced her immediately when she had first entered into his ward, nothing good had come off it when she was near him. The girl was unconsciously but deftly driving him insane.

Itachi had wanted to rekindle the dying embers of attraction between them, but his vow and the Hokage's threat had held him at bay. The Hokage was still closely watching his every move, and Itachi was force to stop from claiming the girl and breaking the vow that he had made with her.

The incident that led him to a critical condition was somewhat the girl's fault, if the Daimyo's daughter hadn't had the exact color of Sakura's eyes. Itachi wouldn't have been foolish enough too risk his life when he had foolishly shielded the girl from a stray jutsu. His cousin Shisui had been surprised at his recklessness but had hadn't asked any question about his unusual behavior. Itachi however, had been glad of the outcome of his recklessness, because if he hadn't been submitted to the Hospital, Itachi would have never got to spend time with the kunoichi. He rather enjoyed her endearing company albeit it pains him to do so. The mere sight of her swaying hips had been enough to keep him in total concentration for an hour to stop the blood from flowing downwards into someplace inappropriate.

That was 1 year and 6 moths ago, and this was now.

Itachi's undeniable lust and lethal attraction towards the girl had intensified over the past 2 years of their separation. The moment that he had been instinctively conscious of her presence within the Uchiha Compound, Itachi had immediately wanted to seek her out. He had been angry that she had dared grace her presence in the Uchiha Compound, his turbulent thoughts and raging hormones had been stem long ago, and he was about to reign order to his messed up life when the breeze had swept her back in. Now, his life was thrown back to its former turmoil by the sight of her standing close to his little brother.

Itachi was ready to tie the knot with the woman that his father had chosen. He had become tired of skulking through the darkness to steal a night of passions from his lovers, and even less from condemnation that he had gain after indulging such amoral deeds. The Clan elders had strongly spoken their aversion to Itachi's indifferent attitude in retrospect towards the gossips and the scandals that he had unintentionally incited.

The affairs that Itachi had leaded had been discreet, but hell hath no fury like a woman scorn. His passed lovers had turn against him, contriving to demolish his reputation, while Itachi had turn an indifferent shoulder at them, not really affected by the disparaging whispers and censorious eyes that followed him. Which on the contrary greatly amused him, it had only proved his low opinions on those people who gossip, and they are as daft as those malicious females who betrayed him. They did not know him too well to judge him, and those who knew him could not even gauge his indecipherable personality.

Itachi did not give a damn about them.

He was already to the brink of dishonor when his father had thrown the marriage contract at him that would rectify the problem. He was going to marry the well-known dignified and graceful beauty of the Uchiha Clan, and his father had never chosen any better.

Uchiha Shinshi, the picture of propriety and elegance that would complement his ease and the polish manner that he had sustained from his good upbringing. They were a perfect match, and nothing could come between their felicitous unions.

Not even the pink haired kunoichi.

The girl had utterly ruined his engagement party by just showing up with his little brother. Itachi had been skeptical about the girl's relationship with his little brother. Itachi could feel something was wrong with the whole picture, and no he wasn't jealous, a little dejected maybe but not jealous. Itachi had already known that he was capable of lust and anger but he did not know if he was even capable of jealousy.

Itachi had been planning to find out the reason of her sudden appearance within the Compound. He hadn't expected that she was going to be there with someone else of course, much less his little brother. Itachi had been far from shocked when he had seen his little brother holding the woman of his desires for the past 2 years. The mere sight of them together had left him cold and something else that he could not describe. He had instinctively surmised that it must be a feeling of doubt after watching them closely, and then turn to anger for his sudden discovery.

Itachi had keeping an eye on the girl for the past 2 years and he had known that the girl was not seeing anyone. The possible suitors that had attempted to sweep the girl of her feet had been sent packing with a broomstick stuck between their legs. Itachi had no qualms in ensuring the single status of his alluring pink haired woman. If Itachi could not touch her, then no man can, but all of it came tumbling down when the kunoichi had conceded to having a relationship with his little brother.

For all the men that had come knocking at her door, the kunoichi had chosen his little brother and had even go to the lengths of wishing that it was Rock Lee rather than his little brother. He could not even conceive the image of the kunoichi of becoming his sister-in-law. Itachi would rather see her as a spinster with thirteen cats than become the wife to his little brother, carrying a black-haired, green eyed bundle of joy.

The feeling of betrayal had settled itself in his heavy heart, but it was much worse when he began speculating that the kunoichi had done it to spite him. A part of him was furious at the conjecture, but the other part of him was a trifle lofty? Yes, he was exactly that. Itachi knew that deep within him, there was still this irksome desire to have her for his own, and the thought of the kunoichi feinting a relationship with his little brother, had convince that the kunoichi was still harboring a strong desire for him. This of course was the product of his ingenious mind which he did not have the time to mull over ,and had allowed himself to become subservient to his gut instincts and fleeting fancies, thus resulting to a chase that he was going to savor with great pleasure.

Uchiha Itachi had been stalking and watching his prey for the entire evening, waiting patiently for the right time to pounce on her. That moment arrived when his father had shepherded his little brother into their house for a tete-a- tete, which he already suspected was about his little brother having procured a girlfriend without consulting their father first. Uchiha Fugaku had already shown disapproval to the pink haired kunoichi the moment she had stepped into his little brother's life, and his father's opinions was far from veering off coarse now that the she had become Sasuke's 'girlfriend'.

If the girl was someone else, Itachi would have help Sasuke gain their father's approval, but since she wasn't some other girl, Itachi was just going to watched them and do nothing. He was not going to allow Sasuke to have her, his show of disapproval for their pairing was even greater than his father's disapproval to them.

The moment that his brother was out of sight, Itachi had moved in with his prey. There was a small pond in the Uchiha Compound where the Kunocihi had headed. Itachi had excused himself from his fiancée's side and stalked after her, planning to unravel the mystery hidden beneath those translucent emerald eyes.

Itachi wanted to confirm her relationship with Sasuke if it was just a ruse, to hide her true desire to be with him. He was also trying to assure himself that he was no longer as inexplicably captivated by her, but he was mistaken. Her intoxicating presence was like an aphrodisiac that he wanted to taste, to savor and to quench the overwhelming lust that he had carried with him for two painful years, almost bringing him to his knees by the sheer power of it. But what Itachi had learn during those years of their separation, was to never allow himself to be ensnared by the siren calls of his pink haired kunoichi.

Itachi was not as easily swayed as he was before. With a diamond chains securely placed his libido, he made the first move, his light treads barely making a sound over the grassy landscape surrounding the pond, the distance that separated him from his goal becoming small, his eyes glinting almost menacingly as he considered the frozen woman.

Sakura held Itachi's gaze before skittering to the side, afraid that he might see the love and the pain that he had inflicted upon her. She had already taken a few steps back looking frantically from side to side ready for flight when Itachi closed the distance between them, taking hold of her chin with his fingers before she could move.

Fiery ruby locked with turbid emeralds as their eyes collided in a sudden clash of wills.

"Kunoichi," voice as dark as sin and as soft as velvet made its way to her heart, strumming the cords of distress and apprehension.

Sakura tried to pull her face from his grasp, but Itachi had none of it and slowly snake his free hand to grab her shoulder. Her heart was beating faster as she suddenly felt the oh-so familiar tingling sensation running up and down her spine. Sakura knew it to well that she was already searching for the nearest exit before her desires took over. Wrenching her face and shoulder from his gentle yet cruel grasp, she took a step back and then breeze passed the Uchiha towards the direction of the festivities.

Sakura had already taken a couple of steps forwards when Itachi grabbed her arm forcefully before whirling her around to face him. Sakura's bewildered eyes met Itachi's spinning sharingan. She could see that the usually impassive Uchiha was furious at her .Although she couldn't see it in his inscrutable face, Sakura definitely see it in his eyes.

"Let me go Uchiha," Sakura spat at him, trying to make her voice sound infuriated for fear that Itachi would see how affected she was with his close proximity. She tried to wrench her arm from his grip while she glared up at his undecipherable face. Instead of letting her go, the Uchiha choose to tighten his hold around her arm but not enough to bruise her.

"No," the Uchiha said in a smooth, expressionless voice, the tomoes of his gorgeous sharingan still spinning. The sleek bangs that frame his ruggedly hewn features, was swept by the cold breeze that passed between them, making Sakura's breathing hitch at Itachi's stupendous sex appeal.

"Let me go!" Sakura snarled in anger, hopelessly trying to quell the rush of desire as she was suddenly drawn to Itachi's fatal attraction. Sakura yank her arm forcefully from his grip, her sleeves making a ripping sound before it tore. She stopped struggling to give the stoic Uchiha a fierce stare, the sleeve of her ivory kimono was dangling in tatters from her arm. The creamy white cloth of her nagajuban peeked through the seams of the ripped silk kimono, and rousing Sakura's volcanic temper at the sight of it.

"Let me go, U-chi-ha.." Sakura said through her gritted teeth, refraining herself from throttling the insufferable man, who had ruined one of her best kimono, which took her 5 months of her savings to buy the expensive kimono. She look up at him with her emerald eyes alight with repressed anger while the Uchiha choose to remain silent , making Sakura grind her teeth in exasperation.

Sasuke was going to be look for her and Sakura wouldn't want him to find out that she was fighting with his older brother. Sasuke respected and adored the older man, even though he hid it well in his blank features when he discloses any information about him.

"I said let me go, Itachi." Sakura said angrily, the name of the man rolled off her tongue like she had been saying it more often than not. Well, it was partly true, since she had been having erotic dreams about the man every once in a while for the passed 2 years.

Itachi had suddenly gone still at the sudden familiarity when the girl had spoken his name. He stood there gazing at the girl who had become an irritating part of his thoughts and dreams. His life had not gone on without ever dwelling on this pink haired kunoichi. The way his name had passed through her sensuous lips had made his blood curdle with desire, but he resisted.

"Let me go," Itachi heard the order in her voice and his eyes narrowed at the sound of it. Itachi yanked the girl towards him while the girl began to struggle, pummeling her small fist on his chest which did nothing to impede his progress; he steered her closer to his large form when he felt her gathering chakra. The girl's struggle became futile as she found her hands twisted behind her back and her small form ensconce in his arms.

Sakura instantly froze at their closeness, her face pressed against Itachi's warm chest and her whole body flushed against his. She raised her head to glare at the man with so much ire and loathing that would make any man quiver with fear, but Itachi was not any man. Itachi was something else that she had not expected from her life; he was as unreachable and as dark as the stellated skies above her. This man was the same man who had vowed himself not touched her, until now.

With so much untamed violence in her eyes, Sakura find herself looking at Itachi's sharingan, which were burning with an equal intensity as her own. His ruby eyes however were not gleaming with untamed violence, instead they were cold and hard with leashed fury.

"Tell me Sakura, Do you love my little brother?" Itachi drawled his eyes questioning and furious while his expression had gone harsh as he perused her upturn face.

Sakura's heart almost stopped when she heard her name, eyes began searching his dark orbs but instantly dimmed when all she could find was an endless depth of ruby ice.

_"Do you love my little brother?"_ the words echoing in her mind, resounding in her head like an ominous toll of finally facing her executioner.

_"Do I love Sasuke?"_ Sakura thought as she stood there, engulf in Itachi's arms, the man she truly loves and the man she lusted over. Sakura would have answered no, and tell him that she love Sasuke as a friend. But the promise that she had made with Sasuke had kept her mouth shut, and answers the question without hesitation.

"Yes, I love Sasuke." Sakura answered, her eyes not wavering from Itachi's disconcerting stare. Sakura saw something flashed in his eyes but disappeared instantly before she had time to ponder over it.

"Now that we have that settled. Will you please release me?" Sakura said almost beseechingly as she scan Itachi's features for some kind of reaction. Eyes became blank as he look at her, then watched in silent bewilderment as the corners of his lips quirked in a derisive smile.

"If you love my brother, kunoichi." Itachi said slightly mocking and slightly amuse with eyes remaining blank "Then tell me kunoichi, why do I still see and smell a strong desire from you?"

As if to prove his words, Itachi suddenly lean over and place his head at the curve of her neck exposed above her tomoeri, and then dipping down to take a sniff from her. Itachi's question remains unanswered when Sakura resume her struggle, making a strangled sound in her throat as Itachi's sinewy arms tightened around her. Itachi's nuzzling was not helping Sakura's already weak limbs and she instantly buckled over. If Itachi hadn't been holding her close, she would have collapsed in gooey heaps at his feet.

Sakura's eyes were dark with desire when she heard him chuckled against her throat, her eyes narrowing at the sound. The arrogant man raised his head from her neck with a smirk curling his lips and his eyes were darkly veiled, stunning the petite kunoichi as her eyes caught sight of the odd glimmer in them. Then her body reacted to the flare of desire that she had seen in Itachi's eyes.

With her body pushed against Itachi's hard form, Sakura was now aware of the difference between their statures. She looks fragile and soft compared to Itachi's tall and lean form, with the top of her head barely reaching his chin. Her nose level with Itachi's neck where she could smell his delectable scent emitting from the pores of his exposed skin. Her eyes darkening with desire while her nose unconsciously moving closer to Itachi's expose neck from the tomoeri of his black kimono. Her lashes veiling her dark orbs as she took a sniff of Itachi's scent, finally giving in to the temptation of tasting something forbidden.

"Sakura" Itachi said in a low dangerous tone, his eyes narrowing when he saw the distinguishable desire hidden beneath fringes of pink lashes. "Saku--!"

Sakura parted her lips before nibbling Itachi's kimono, not really noticing that the Uchiha had stiffened at her sudden show of intimacy. She was even less aware of the sudden tensing of Itachi's wide shoulder or how his breathing had hitch when she had pressed her lips at his silk kimono. Sakura was impervious to everything, except Itachi's heady smell. Her lips slowly making its way towards Itachi's neck, giving small reverent kisses on the tomoeri of his kimono before her lips met bare hot skin, scorching and searing Itachi with red hot desire.

Itachi's scent was fogging her senses, and making her body pliant against his rigid form while all her coherent thoughts vanish from her hazy mind. Sakura blame it on the large amount of sake that she had consumed earlier. She wouldn't be as daring as she was now, to nuzzle Itachi's neck if she wasn't intoxicated. Her pointed nose was nudging the smooth texture of Itachi's warm skin as she continue to revel the undaunted virility exuded on Itachi's stiffen form.

The steely bands on her wrist loosen, and the rigid body against her began to relax as she nuzzled Itachi's neck. Itachi's heady scent was compellingly male, with a mixed of something sweet and forbidden that she would have delved into, if the Uchiha hadn't intervened. Her lips were already parted, her warm breath fanning against Itachi's skin when she was pushed away so suddenly that she stumbled over. She would have fallen into the pond if Itachi hadn't clumped a hand on her shoulder to steady her.

"Kunoichi!" Itachi spoke through gritted teeth, anger and disdain was evident in his voice which brought Sakura back to earth by the sound of it. Sakura stared at the angry glint in Itachi's eyes while she tried to regain back her senses. Sakura could see that she was not the only one who was affected by this secret interlude. The uneven rise and fall of Itachi's wide shoulder, which would be indiscernible if not scrutinize closely, was enough to inculcate an impression on Sakura.

Uchiha Itachi still wanted her, and the thought of it almost shook her to the core, jarring her somewhat incoherent senses. Sakura would have relished at her sudden discovery, but the fact still remains of Itachi's impending nuptial to a beautiful woman by the name of Uchiha Shinshi, the realization immediately dampening her already low spirits and bringing a painful sting to her heart.

The sake that she had consumed earlier was not even a wisp to lift her contrite spirit. Sakura should have known that coming to Itachi's engagement party was like being placed in a huge banquet with Itachi as the irresistible dessert at the end of the meal. Sakura had been tempted by Temptation, and she had almost savored it with so much gusto that would lead her into complete ruins. They should stop playing with fire before they get burn.

Cringing in disgust and face profuse with color, Sakura shook Itachi's hand off her shoulder. The Uchiha let his hand fall to the side and watched as Sakura averted her head, to watch the scintillating lights dancing on the surface of the pond. Silence preceded and Sakura listened to the sound of musical sound of crickets chirping into the night with the wind leading the concerto of rustles from the trees and bushes.

"I'm sorry," Sakura murmured, the turbulent emotions that she had experience earlier was extinguished, her face blanched when she realized her unforgivable actions.

"Sorry?" Itachi asked nonchalantly, making it hard for Sakura to distinguish what Itachi was feeling, since she was no longer looking at his eyes.

"Don't apologize," Itachi said monotonously, making Sakura looked at him in surprise. Itachi's face remained blank, but she could still see the lingering effects of her invasive actions to him.

"I already know why you came here," He said and with that, he pivoted on his heel and marched away from her, leaving her to stare after his retreating form.

"I already know why you--" Sakura mumbled in confusion, then it suddenly dawn on her to what it meant. Itachi still thought of her as a conniving insecure woman who was still harboring an unquenchable lust for him.

Sakura began sprinting after the Uchiha but her kimono prevented her movements as she watched with great trepidation when the Uchiha disappeared into the clump of trees.

"Wait," Sakura called out as she hurriedly untie her Kisho-himo, datejimi and obi around her. Her footsteps did not falter as she followed the Uchiha, her obi and datejimi now slung on her shoulder with her ivory kimono flapping behind her. The Uchiha did not stop at her call and totally disappeared from her sight.

"Itachi wait!" Sakura called again as she found herself shrouded in the shadows, her zori barely making a sound as she sprinted towards the direction of the Uchiha had taken, the hem of her outer kimono, nagajuban and susoyoke snagging on the gnarled roots of the trees as she pursued the Uchiha.

She heard the cloth tearing and Sakura hoist her heavy kimono from the ground, showing off her white tabi which was encase by her lilac zori. The white split-toe socks were smudged with dirt and soaking wet after she had accidentally stepped into the pond earlier. Mud and grass was clinging to the heels of her zori while the hem of her once splendid kimono now hanging tattered and soiled.

Sakura envision what would be Sasuke's reaction when saw her after wards. Sasuke would probably be incredulous because she looks like a lost child who had been meandering aimlessly around the woods to look at the pond. Or even worse, Sasuke would probably suspect that Itachi had raped her while he had been talking to his father. But Sakura seems not to care as she continues to scour the depths of the woods after a particular black haired shinobi who accuses her for being a well endowed seductress.

The compact trees hindering any light from ever penetrating through the thick foliage of leaves and branches while Sakura tried to pierce the darkness with her eyes but to no avail, her line of vision remained black. Sakura gave her eyes a scant time to adjust to the darkness, her footsteps echoing through the resounding silence as she trudged into the mossy and grassy forest floor.

This was the path that Itachi had taken earlier, slipping inconspicuously from prying eyes to talk to her. Sakura had taken a more careful route when she had come here to find seclusion. Sasuke had told her about this place. He had told her that he had always come to the pond to brood over some things and to find some peace for himself. When Sasuke had left her to talk to his father, he had told her to take a look at the pond while Sakura had been curious and had immediately left the engagement party.

Sakura continue to go after the Uchiha as her eyes becoming accustomed to the darkness, with her thoughts drifting to the event that made her seek the serenity the pond had provided for her.

She had considerably been disheartened when she had watch Shinshi hanging beside Itachi like a dutiful wife. Consuming sake and faking cheerfulness while she talked to Shisui, Mikoto, and Sasuke, was the only thing that kept her from teetering over the precipice where she would find herself broken into tiny bits of irreplaceable pieces when she hadn't clung to Sasuke.

The other Uchiha Clan members had kept a safe distant from her and had avoided engaging her into their conversation. Sakura didn't even know why she was there. She should have known better than to allow herself to be convinced by Sasuke into coming here, but Sakura knew that she couldn't blame Sasuke this time. After The Uchiha Clan had announced Itachi's impending nuptial to Shinshi, Sakura was far from devastated and she had been in a complete messed for the passed two weeks. She had been slugging off from her duties and had distance herself from her friends except for Sasuke who had become close to her.

Sasuke had asked her to be his pretend girlfriend, and that was all. There was no intimacy between them and what had happen earlier was just for show. Sasuke had brought her there to stop his mother for throwing another woman in his lap, already showing that he was not interested in them, and even less in those women who fawn over him.

Sasuke had eyes only for one person and that person was already taken. The problem was, is that; the person was a 'he' rather than a 'she'. That was where Sakura came along and posed as Sasuke's girlfriend to ward off unwanted flies. Sakura had admitted that it was fun to join Sasuke in his whirlwind life, which wasn't much. A few concocted, but indulging wicked innuendos here and there, then throw in a few disastrous dates from Sasuke's matchmaking mother and you've got Sasuke's whirlwind life.

Sakura already knew about Sasuke's sexuality but she did not judge him. Sakura was just merrily celebrating that she was not alone to lead an unrequited love campaign. Sakura also knew that Sasuke's change of sexuality had also been an influence of making him stay with Team 7, and had made him a little soft like a cuddly bear for Sakura to play.

Sakura magnanimously love him like a brother, and the proposition that he had made with her had open up great opportunity for her. Sasuke knew that she was in love with his older brother and had given her ample time to mull over his proposition, which did not take long for Sakura to decide because she was absolutely dying to know who the lucky girl Itachi was going to marry.

Sakura had wanted to meet Itachi's fiancée and find out what Itachi had seen in her to make her as his bride-to-be. Sakura had been jealous at the girl for being overly kind and unnervingly perfect. She was indeed the perfect match for Uchiha Itachi which made Sakura want to throttle her. She have to thank Sasuke fore restraining her before she could do damage to the woman's beautiful face. It had been a painful ordeal to see Itachi with another woman by his side and even more painful when she realized that she could never have him.

Sakura was just meandering over the confusing path in search for the Uchiha when something made her pause. The chakra trails that the Uchiha had left behind had suddenly disappeared, leaving her at a dead end. Dark emerald orbs turn this way and that to detect any traces of chakra, but Sakura found none. It seems the elusive Uchiha had disappeared into thin air, without even granting her an audience to allay her vindication. But Sakura knew better than to be fooled.

Itachi was here somewhere, lurking in the dark and waiting for the opportune time to swoop over his quarry. However, Sakura could not fathom what would Itachi accomplished by doing so.

**_SNAP_**

That was all the warning that she receive before she was pushed into a tree with so much force that it took her breath away. She shook the stars from her head and tried to regain some semblance of composure to her whirling world. She blink her eyes a couple of times and breathe a little evenly as her dazed emerald orbs met burning ruby.

An oppressive warm suddenly assaulted her befogged senses, and she realized that it was coming from the man a scant foot from her.

"Stop tempting me, kunoichi." Sakura's eyes widen at Itachi's guttural voice. Itachi was standing in front of her, his unyielding chest a foot from her heaving bosom, while his hands were place beside her small shoulder, totally entrapping her.

Sakura flushed at the insinuation, and watched uneasily as Itachi's flaring sharingan scan her body. Her open kimono had exposed her undergarments beneath. Her Nagajuban, which was adorned with pink peonies on the white silk, was open, revealing her Hadajuban and Susoyoke beneath, which was as though it was made of transparent cloth as the arrogant Uchiha continue to regard her with his piercing eyes.

"Stop tempting me or I'll abandon the last remnants of my morals and take your offer." Itachi whispered, his eyes heavily hooded and glittering with menace as he lean towards the pink tresses that had escaped from her coiffure.

"I have to admit," Itachi murmured to her, his breath fanning over her flushed cheeks with his nose sliding over her pink locks that dangled from her forehead.

"I find you…." She heard him whisper, but she was wholly distracted at the trailing hand on her shoulder that slowly cupped her nape. While Itachi's other hand, had moved to grasp her small waist and pulling her flushed against his body. Her face was suffused with color from righteous indignation and desire as the Uchiha took free liberties to touch her treasonous body.

The Uchiha slowly raised his head to look at her. Heat permeating between them and the air around them begin to crackle with sexual tension. The moments of thick silence was interrupted when Itachi choose to cut it by his silky deep voice; a voice oozing with wicked promise and sexual undertones.

"……irresistible." Itachi finally said, eyes darkening, and grasping her neck firmly in place before his sensuous lips descended on hers .The hand on her waist tightened, preventing her from escape and from fighting him again .But Sakura neither did any of that sort, she remain frozen on her spot with her lips parting involuntarily, watching through her lashes as Itachi's lips draw perilously close to hers for kiss that would stoke the dying embers of their blazing desire.

Itachi was unforgivable as he moves to conquer.

**_And conquer he will_**.

**_TO BE CONTINUED....._**

**_-------------------------------------------------------_**

**_Please review!!!_**

**_Thanks for the reviews:_**

**_Ryn729, nickeledwards, knightchaser, Okawari, Alucard's-Master, harukanaru, Pink Blossom Princess, Amane Uchiha,Lord Melkor and Ottawa._**

I would also like to thanks for **_Yami Uchiha_** for editing this story. Yami you're such a great beta reader and don't be furious at me for making Sasuke gay. But I have to admit that Sasuke is soooo hot to become gay so maybe I'll make him a reform gay by the next few chapters? Make him fall in love with Sakura...Muwaaahahahaha....but Sakura will still be pinning after the sexiest man in the Shinobi world, UCHIHA ITACHI.

Thanks for supporting this disastrous story. You're reviews have really made there way to my heart to really continue this story. But if I may say so, it is much more appreciated if you leave some good critique about this story. Lord Melkor has really helped me a lot and it would be of much help if I hear your different opinions and critique about this story. I'm trying to improve myself and my writing skills, so it is much better to know my mistakes than not knowing at all.

I really do hope that you can leave a review.

I know that this should be an epilogue but it seems that my mind has strayed from my original plot line, again and make it into another multi-chapter. So I hope that I could finish this fast so that I can catch up with my other stories. I'm totally trying to keep up with my original plot lines but my ideas always veered away.

I'm currently reading back my romance novels and reading a dictionary, hoping to improve my writing style and the like. I would also like to thank Lord Melkor for critiquing my stories, which had been helpful to me. It helps me improve, as you have called it 'my command with the English language'. So I really do hope that you have seen an improvement in this story. Itachi is still OOC though because I still don't know how to catch his personality. He's a very complicated character but I love him nonetheless, with all his dark good looks and mysterious eyes, makes want to melt in a heap of white goo. (SIGH)

(COUGH)(COUGH)Okay, I'll stop my ramblings and tell you the rest of my plans.

1. This story will have 2 more chapter before it is finish. (I notice that I can't write a story without filling 23 pages of paper in the Microsoft Documents. I also can't stop my mind from changing course every minute while I'm writing the story, so the outcome will always be a disaster.)

2. This story will have a sequel in the future. (And I definitely hope that I won't lose the original plot line again)

3. Innocent Touches will be updated after I'm done with the story. The plot lines of both stories are somewhat similar but not totally. The 'Innocent Touches' is a slow progress towards love while 'Once Upon a Touch' on the other hand is different, first comes 'Lust' then comes 'Love', specifically unrequited love.

4. I would be skipping the usual updates because I have to do more researching about writing a Romantic stories, I would also have to read more mystery, suspense and drama stories, for future reference.

5. I try my hardest to reply to your reviews. I'm sorry that I failed to give you a review reply before, because at that time, I was not aware of it until I review in Yami's story. It shed some light of me that writers have review reply. I asked Yami how to do a review reply and she told me, so from now on. I'll be replying to your reviews.

6. I have another story in mind, 3 stories in fact. The sequel to Itch 'Dance of Seduction', a Halloween special which is an AU sequel to Itch called 'A Kiss between friends' and lastly my new multi-chapter fic. Which is AU, Non-massacre and Canon at the same time. It is called the 'The Destined Path', and yes. 'The Shinobi Path' is originally derived from 'The Destined Path', but the plots are very different. 'The Destined Path' is going to be darker and much more interesting than the 'The Shinobi Path', but this would be a tragic story.

7. I'm going to write the 'Itch' and the Halloween special after I post this chapter.

So wish me luck! And thanks for reading this story! *-*

Hope to see you soon.

_But before I could leave, here's the information you need._

**_Thanks to my beloved Wiki Pedia for divulging this few but concrete facts to me:_**

**kimono** is the national costume of Japan . Originally the word "kimono" literally meant thing to wear (_ki_ wearing and _mono_ thing) but now has come to denote a particular type of traditional full-length garment.

Young women's kimono have longer sleeves, signifying their unmarried status, and tend to be more elaborate than similarly formal older women's kimono. Men's kimono is usually one basic shape and is mainly worn in subdued colors. Silk is the most desirable, and most formal, fabric.

**_Kamons_** are family crests and 5 kamons usually denotes extreme formality. This 5 kamons are usually decked in the chest, shoulders and back.

**_Haori_** is a hip- or thigh-length kimono jacket which adds formality. Subdued color like black, dark blue and brown are usually worn by men. They are now worn by both men and women, though women's kimono jackets tend to be longer.

**_Hakama_** is a divided (_Umanori_) or undivided skirt (_Andon_) which resembles a wide pair of pants, traditionally worn by men but now also by women in less formal outfits, and is also worn in certain martial arts such as aikido. A hakama typically has pleats, a koshiita (a stiff or padded part in the lower back of the wearer), and himo (long lengths of fabric tied around the waist over the obi, described below).

**_Nagajuban_** are kimono-shaped robes worn by both men and women beneath the main outer garment. Since silk kimono are delicate and difficult to clean, the _nagajuban_ helps to keep the outer kimono clean by preventing contact with the wearer's skin. Only the collar edge of the nagajuban shows from beneath the outer kimono.

**_Hadajuban_** are thin garments similar to undershirts. They are worn by women under the _nagajuban_.

**_Susoyoke_** is a thin petticoat-like garment worn by women under the nagajuban. Sometimes the susoyoke and hadajuban are combined into a one-piece garment.

**_Kanzashi_** are hair ornaments worn by women in the coiffured hair style that often accompanies kimono. These may take the form of silk flowers, wooden combs, and jade hairpins.

**_Obi _**is a sash worn with kimono by both men and women.

**_Datejime_** is a thin, sash worn around the obi. This is usually now only used in more formal situations. This is also called a Datemaki.

**Koshi himo **are thin sashes tied to keep the kimono in place while getting dressed, and keep it from moving during wear.

**_Tabi_** are ankle-high, divided-toe socks usually worn with zori or geta

**_Zori_** are cloth, leather or grass-woven sandals. Zōri may be highly decorated with intricate stitching or with no decoration. They are worn by both men and women.

---------------

Dearly beloved Wiki,

Your knowledge and information have never ceased to impress and amaze me. I, a very ignorant woman, will always be your most devoted servant, basking over your bountiful and ingenious words.

I'll be praying to the Gods that we will see each other again. Our passionate and small interlude in the internet park had left me aching and yearning for your irresistible presence, and the only thing that cure the painful ache in my loins is none other than you. Let's meet in the internet park once again, but let's hope that we won't be interrupted by anything, especially by that pesky virus that keeps infiltrating our solitude.

So when the right time comes again, let's be one. I always knew that our union has been blessed by the Gods, giving birth to a very honest child who will always speak the truth and no nonsense. Sadly though, that's all they can get from you, a wide knowledge of information while I gave them creativity and the freedom of expression, but 'tis not a bad match after all. We're virtually in love and internetly connected.

I already gave our children names, our first child is called 'The Shinobi Path', he got a lot of traits from you but our second child mostly got from mine. I named him 'Itch' while our first daughter is named 'Once Upon a Touch'. She's very fast learner and very mature for her age.' Innocent Touches', our second daughter, on the other hand is much more innocent than her older sister, that's why I name her 'Innocent Touches'. Our youngest child, 'Hanami Dango' hasn't gotten our traits, our child's virtual wordings and capacity has been affected during the days of our estrangement. I'm sorry that I never visit you Hon.'Hanami Dango' had rebelled against me and I had difficult time controlling her. But now that I have settled her in a safe post, I'm now ready to have a word with you again. So I'll be meeting you when I'm done restraining our daughter, 'Once Upon a Touch', for jumping into any boy she sees.

I'll be anticipating for our next meeting.

With passion and much love,  
**_bloomsburry_**


	4. Possession

**Disclaimer:** Uzumaki Naruto and all the other characters except for Uchiha Itachi and Haruno Sakura belong to Masashi Kishimoto while Itachi-kun and Sakura-chan is a gift from Masashi Kishimoto; a borrowed gift to tell you honestly.

**Warning: **SakuSasu

-----------------

"**Once Upon a Touch"**

**Rated M**

**Romance and Drama**

**Itachi/Sakura/Sasuke  
**

**Chapter 4**

**-----------------------------**

**RECAP**

_Itachi was here somewhere, lurking in the dark and waiting for the opportune time to swoop over his quarry. However, Sakura could not fathom what would Itachi accomplished by doing so._

_**SNAP**_

_That was all the warning that she receive before she was pushed into a tree with so much force that it took her breath away. She shook the stars from her head and tried to regain some semblance of composure to her whirling world. She blink her eyes a couple of times and breathe a little evenly as her dazed emerald orbs met burning ruby._

_An oppressive warm suddenly assaulted her befogged senses, and she realized that it was coming from the man a scant foot from her._

_"Stop tempting me, kunoichi" Sakura's eyes widen at Itachi's guttural voice. Itachi was standing in front of her, his unyielding chest a foot from her heaving bosom, while his hands were place beside her small shoulder, totally entrapping her._

_Sakura flushed at the insinuation, and watched uneasily as Itachi's flaring sharingan scan her body. Her open kimono had exposed her undergarments beneath. Her Nagajuban, which was adorned with pink peonies on the white silk, was open, revealing her Hadajuban and Susoyoke beneath, which was as though it was made of transparent cloth as the arrogant Uchiha continue to regard her with his piercing eyes._

_"Stop tempting me or I'll abandon the last remnants of my morals and take your offer" Itachi whispered, his eyes heavily hooded and glittering with menace as he lean towards the pink tresses that had escaped from her coiffure._

"_I have to admit" Itachi murmured to her, his breath fanning over her flushed cheeks with his nose sliding over her pink locks that dangled from her forehead._

"_I find you…." She heard him whisper, but she was wholly distracted at the trailing hand on her shoulder that slowly cupped her nape. While Itachi's other hand, had moved to grasp her small waist and pulling her flushed against his body. Her face was suffused with color from righteous indignation and desire as the Uchiha took free liberties to touch her treasonous body._

_The Uchiha slowly raised his head to look at her. Heat permeating between them and the air around them begin to crackle with sexual tension. The moments of thick silence was interrupted when Itachi choose to cut it by his silky deep voice; a voice oozing with wicked promise and sexual undertones._

"……_irresistible" Itachi finally said, eyes darkening, and grasping her neck firmly in place before his sensuous lips descended on hers .The hand on her waist tightened, preventing her from escape and from fighting him again .But Sakura neither did any of that sort, she remain frozen on her spot with her lips parting involuntarily; watching through her lashes as Itachi's lips draw perilously close to hers for kiss that would stoke the dying embers of their blazing desire._

_Itachi was unforgivable as he moves to conquer._

_**And conquer he will**_.

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_**Present**_

Itachi's lips were drawing perilously close to hers. His eyes were hooded, sooty lashes hiding the triumph within their depths while she. She just waited for that hot, inevitable kiss that would surely erase any remnants of resistance from her being if she succumbs to him. His lips were a hairs-breadth away from hers when a one simple word escapes from her parted lips, brushing against the sensuous lips that were oh-so close to hers.

Did he really think that she would give up that easily?

"Kai," Sakura whispered softly, releasing the genjutsu that the Uchiha had evoked over her when he had her distracted.

**Flashback**

_"Yes, I love Sasuke" Sakura answered, her eyes not wavering from Itachi's disconcerting stare. Sakura saw something flashed in his eyes but disappeared instantly before she had time to ponder over it._

_"Now that we have that settled. Will you please release me?" Sakura said almost beseechingly as she scan Itachi's features for some kind of reaction. Eyes became blank as he look at her, then watched in silent bewilderment as the corners of his lips quirked in a derisive smile._

_"If you love my brother, kunoichi" Itachi said slightly mocking and slightly amuse with eyes remaining blank "Then tell me kunoichi, why do I still see and smell a strong desire from you?"_

_As if to prove his words, Itachi suddenly lean over and place his head at the curve of her neck exposed above her tomoeri, and then dipping down to take a sniff from her. Itachi's question remains unanswered when Sakura resume her struggle, making a strangled sound in her throat as Itachi's sinewy arms tightened around her. Itachi's nuzzling was not helping Sakura's already weak limbs and she instantly buckled over. If Itachi hadn't been holding her close, she would have collapsed in gooey heaps at his feet._

_Sakura's eyes were dark with desire when she heard him chuckled against her throat, her eyes narrowing at the sound. The arrogant man raised his head from her neck with a smirk curling his lips and his eyes were darkly veiled, stunning the petite kunoichi as her eyes caught sight of the odd glimmer in them. Then her body reacted to the flare of desire that she had seen in Itachi's eyes._

_With her body pushed against Itachi's hard form, Sakura was now aware of the difference between their statures. She looks fragile and soft compared to Itachi's tall and lean form, with the top of her head barely reaching his chin. Her nose level with Itachi's neck where she could smell his delectable scent emitting from the pores of his exposed skin. Her eyes darkening with desire while her nose unconsciously moving closer to Itachi's expose neck from the tomoeri of his black kimono. Her lashes veiling her dark orbs as she took a sniff of Itachi's scent, finally giving in to the temptation of tasting something forbidden._

_"Sakura" Itachi said in a low dangerous tone, his eyes narrowing when he saw the distinguishable desire hidden beneath fringes of pink lashes. "Saku--!"_

_Sakura parted her lips before nibbling Itachi's kimono, not really noticing that the Uchiha had stiffened at her sudden show of intimacy. She was even less aware of the sudden tensing of Itachi's wide shoulder or how his breathing had hitch when she had pressed her lips at his silk kimono. Sakura was impervious to everything, except Itachi's heady smell. Her lips slowly making its way towards Itachi's neck, giving small reverent kisses on the tomoeri of his kimono before her lips met bare hot skin, scorching and searing Itachi with red hot desire._

_Itachi's scent was fogging her senses and making her body pliant against his rigid form while all her coherent thoughts vanish from her hazy mind. Sakura blame it on the large amount of sake that she had consumed earlier. She wouldn't be as daring as she was now, to nuzzle Itachi's neck if she wasn't intoxicated. Her pointed nose was nudging the smooth texture of Itachi's warm skin as she continue to revel the undaunted virility exuded on Itachi's stiffen form._

_**However, the sake hadn't been that real reason behind her sudden show of unbridled passion towards a soon to be married man.**_

**End of Flashback**

An electrifying silence descended upon them, ruby eyes clashing with deep emeralds in a silent battle.

The genjutsu slowly dissipating, just a mirage fabricated to entrap her. Still suffering the aftereffects of his genjutsu, she allowed herself to fix her simmering orbs at the man standing near the tree, whose eyes were glowing eerily, watching her through the dancing shadows wrapped around his tall frame, barely moving an inch, before and after he arrived at the pond.

His clone had done the job to distract her, drawing her into his schemes while he just stood on the background, forcing her to reveal her true emotion with the use of his specialized genjutsu, but by doing so, he revealed his fatal desire for her. So tempting and irresistible that it had nearly drove them to the pinnacle of no return, luring them to that terrifying realm where Adam and Eve were the first man to haven fallen from grace, punished by God by their inconceivable transgressions.

They wanted, needed, lusted. And the heated and knowing look that the Uchiha was directing her now was making her insides quiver with unquenchable desire. She saw the promise in them, but she was not going to let him trick her like she had been tricked twice.

That genjutsu dream was one thing, and what happen earlier, it was another one of his damnable mind tricks, trying to manipulate her emotions to suit his primal instinct to rape and plunder, which was boldly written in his eyes as he prop his broad shoulder on the tree, casual and devastatingly handsome in his black kimono.

"You noticed," He commented coolly, his face a total mask but his eyes weren't, "But I wonder why didn't you repel it before, when you had the chance of escaping it?"

An impregnable silence preceded while Sakura tried to regain her rocking world, her equilibrium badly shaken from the unpleasant encounter with her rampaging hormones and that violent blast that fanned her desire to an encompassing heat, centering between her thighs where she could feel moistness had gathered.

That genjutsu was so strong and potent that it seems so real. She could still smell Itachi's musky scent and feel his hot skin against her lips when she had almost want to dipped her tongue and lave at his neck.

Something fierce burn in her loins and she knew that it was her own desires, which she had tried to force on the background, time and again. Yet still, her effort was becoming petty and quite frustrating. She knew that this would not stop until she has had the taste.

Her face screwed into a grimace at her the awkwardness of the situation. She knew exactly why the Uchiha had cast that genjutsu. It was to test her, trying to pry and poke into her mind to seek that forbidden thoughts that she had hidden into the corners of her mind, and then throwing it back at her face in mockery, her lust for him having finally been revealed.

"You knew too well what was the purpose of that genjutsu," The Uchiha pushed himself from his relax stance and strode towards the water edge, standing a meter away from her while gazing into the dark crystalline water. The night breeze making ripples off their blurry reflection against the dark glassy surface of the pond. "Yet you didn't stop it, Why?" Ruby eyes held her as she tried to seek some really good reason why she had let him do it. Aside from finding out if he still wanted her.

"Like you," She began, her eyes staring into his. "I wanted some answers."

It was true, but she knew that her response left more room for more penetrating questions. And the flare of heat that she could see in Itachi's eyes made it a little more difficult for her to stand there, and not run from his imposing presence. She knew exactly what was on his mind, and she was correct as he asked, quite blandly if she might add.

"You wanted to know if I still want you," He said, raking his eyes over her form that made her heart raced yet again. "You know I do." His tone low, almost a growl as his eyes darken into maroon, looking back at hers.

"If I have the chance, I will have you tonight," She didn't even know that he had moved as her pink tresses was suddenly unbound, a hand grasping her hair as it fell in pink rivulets over her shoulder, eyes gazing deeply into hers with a hand caressing her pink locks.

"I will have you wild and willing underneath me," Her heart was racing, her eyes wide with shock as he heard that dark promise in his voice. "You will be moaning my name as I fill you. Feeling my shaft entering you," He whispered, leaning forward into her ears while she stood frozen; the feel of his heat was oppressive as his lips rasp against the sensitive shell of her ear. "Taking you deep and hard that you would be writhing for more,"

"Stop," She said trembling, her lips drew into a thin line. She could see herself doing just that. Writing against him, feeling him entirely as she climbs that unknown territory where lovers went. She could see herself clinging to him; her legs tightly wrapped around his hips as she rode that spiraling heat that was building inside her. "Stop," she said, her breathing erratic as she flushed with desire, her loins searing with heat while she trembled.

This was madness.

She pulled away from his nearness and glared at him.

She clearly wanted him, but she was not going to be swayed by such primal emotion.

She resisted. "I won't allow you," She said, trying her best to look strong. Her chin uplifted as Itachi met her defiant stare. "I won't permit you."

Itachi's closed his expression, surveying her with critical eyes. "Is this some kind of game you're playing at?" his eyes hard and piercing as he asked coldly, "I know why you're here, yet you keep on resisting me."

Sakura's eyes flashed with rage for the Uchiha to assume thusly.

"You know nothing about me, Uchiha." She snarled, her eyes spitting fires. "So stop pretending that you do," she retreated as far away from him as possible, out of his reach. "because you're only deluding yourself."

Itachi stalk after her, his eyes glittering cold. "I do know something about you, Sakura." he said, his jaw tense. "I know your own desires." his eyes burned into hers, anger boiling underneath. "You want me to take you, that is for certain."

The desire in Sakura's loins burned, and coiled until she could feel it leaking in her slick center. She started to turn around but Itachi moved before she could leave.

"I could take you now," Itachi said into her ears. Sakura's eyes went wide like saucers as Itachi appeared behind her, his movement undetected. Sakura tried to twist away from him, her heart in her throat as she heard the threat.

"I could make love to you on the grass," Sakura was suddenly pushed to the ground with Itachi not far behind. Her ivory kimono ruined as the grass stains smeared over the silk. Sakura opened her mouth to scream but Itachi clumped a hand to muffle it.

"And I could have my shaft inside you in no time," He whispered into her ears while lifting Sakura's kimono with incredible speed that she could not stop him. She began to struggle as she felt the cold breeze stirring across her exposed skin.

"But I could not do that now," Itachi said as he caressed her thigh, his eyes looking deeply into hers. Sakura stiffen and gaze at him full of malevolence. "My duty is with my fiancee and my clan." He said as his callus hand hovered above her knee while his other was placed beside her head.

Silence ensues as Itachi slowly released his hand and stared down at her.

"Get off me," Sakura said through her gritted teeth, glaring fiercely.

Itachi did not move. He only stared at her, his hand slowly moving upwards, making Sakura's skin tingle and her desire smolder.

"Get off me," Sakura repeated as she moved to take the hand that was wandering closer and closer to that ache between her thighs. She tightened her hold on his wrist.

"Get off me or I will result to force," Amusement glimmered in Itachi's black orbs as he regarded her. Sakura's nerves were on edge as she waited for Itachi to move but he remained immobile, his weight bearing her down and forcing her to lie there.

Then relief flooded over Sakura as Itachi began to lift his body away from hers. She released Itachi's wrist and moved to follow suit. Her relief was short-lived as she was suddenly pushed back down again, the force jarring her head.

"Do you think that I was going to let you leave so easily?" Sakura heard him whisper as she tried to gain some senses into her whirling world.

An involuntary gasp tore from her lips as she felt his fingers slipped into her panties, her eyes focusing on the features looming over hers.

"I think I'll take a bite first before I let you go," And then she felt him slipped a digit into to her moist folds, stretching her. A moan escaping from her lips as his thumb rolled over that sensitive bundle located above her slick heat, her hands curling on the grass.

"Sweet Kami," Itachi said his voice tight. "You're still a virgin."

The words brought Sakura back, her thighs tensing as she tried to close her legs, but Itachi place a hand to stop her.

His eyes were licking with flames as he stared down on her, his eyes possessive as he inserted yet another finger, stretching her a little further. Sakura's hand twitched, trying to stop him and at the same time wanting him to go on.

It felt good.

"Ahh," Sakura moan as she reached for that hand that was shooting pleasures through out her body. Itachi did not stop as he moved his fingers in and out of her, flickering and tweaking his thumb over her tight bundle of nerves. The heat inside her stomach coiled and twisted, before fanning out. She could feel her juices trickling down from her folds as Itachi pumped his fingers in and out of her.

"I see that Sasuke had never taken you yet," Itachi said, his voice a rasp as he moved his lips over her neck, his breath brushing her smooth skin, making her shudder with guilty pleasure. "You're still as tight as expected of a virgin."

Yes, no man had ever come close to what Itachi was doing now. And if she allowed it to happen, Itachi could take that precious possession away from her with one smooth move.

"I'll be honored to take it from you," Itachi said, voicing promise as he inserted another finger, increasing his speed. His movement desperately trying to take her to that pinnacle of pleasure, wanting to hear her cries of absolute euphoria for the first time as she came.

Sakura's back arched, releasing her hand from Itachi's wrist as she keened. Her face flushed and her nipples pebbled in her obvious show of arousal. She was nearing her climax as Itachi repeatedly tweaked that wonderful bundle of nerves.

"No," Sakura gasped, her hand moving to grasp Itachi's shoulder, and trying to pushed him away from her. Her body might have a desired reaction from Itachi's erotic ministration but her mind had made up. She was not going to let him take her virginity.

"I won't let you do it," Itachi curled his fingers inside her, making her legs clumped tightly around his hand while Itachi licked her neck, and giving her small bites that would surely leave a mark on her smooth skin.

"I'll sto---," She could not complete her words as Itachi rolled his thumb over her, his fingers stroking inside her, making her cry out. She threw her head, her back arched as she find her released, her hips unconsciously moving as she rode her orgasm, Itachi enjoying the show as he move against her, biting her neck and marking her.

Beautiful mewls and whimpers echoed around them yet Itachi still couldn't get enough of her, after forcing her to climax twice in a span of a minute. Her cries of protest turning to pleasure as she clutched his shoulder, her orgasm strong and potent as he could smell the scent of her sex stirring the air, making him hard and ready to take her right then and there.

When finally Sakura had calmed down and totally depleted, Itachi slipped his fingers away from her warmth, feeling her folds tightly wrapped around his digits as he withdrew, fully satisfied and triumphant to have been the first man to bring Sakura to the peak.

"You tasted sweet," Itachi said, licking her juices from his fingers while Sakura's face turns crimson, watching as he flicked his tongue over the creamy moisture from his digit.

"It makes me want to lap it out from you when you came," he said, his eyes drifting towards her sex, right below the mound of pink curls that covered her precious jewel.

Sakura closed her legs, her eyes widening with mortification as she moved to cover herself.

"But the next time I pleasure you," Itachi said darkly, moving to grasp her hips and forcefully wrenching her legs apart, and pressing his erection against her sex. Sakura froze; her eyes alight with fear as she could feel the foreign bulge between her thighs. Though Itachi's hakama impeded it, she could still feel the prominent bulge. "I will take you entirely, again and again until you couldn't move."

She was frozen as his fingers lingered on her wet panties, his eyes carefully watching her face. "Bearing my size and taking me inside your tight body." he growled as his erection straining against his hakama, gloriously rubbing against her sensitive nub while she was becoming aro wet again.

She whimpered as Itachi pressed tightly against her, raising her butt and began rubbing hurriedly against her, the feel of his silk kimono creating heat and friction. She grabbed his broad shoulder and tried to wrench him away from her, her attempts weak.

Itachi stopped as he forcefully tore his erection away from her, breathing harshly. His desire to take her brazenly obvious.

She did not speak as the weight of what had Itachi done to her made finally settled into her conscience, her face showing defeat and boiling anger as she stared back at him. She had let him use her. And what was more inconceivable, she had enjoyed it; every last seconds of it.

"Did you enjoy my gift Sakura?" Itachi asked in soft mockery, his fingers stroking her sex through the panties. He could still see that she desire him. "Did I make you forgot your boyfriend?"

Sakura glared at him. "No," she snapped as slapped his hand away. Itachi was just playing with her, toying with her until she break. No care for her feelings whatsoever while he savored the cake and eat it.

It really was painful to see the man you love using you like a sex toy.

Itachi sat up and moved away from her, his arousal making him uncomfortable.

He wanted her. Wanted her so badly that he was ready to leave the party and have his way with her.

"I pictured Sasuke doing that to me instead of you," Itachi instantly stiffen as he watched her pulled her kimono back down and covered her legs, her face glowing with the aftermath of his foreplay, but he could see anger in them. But not as angry as he was after hearing what she said.

"That was why I enjoyed it," Sakura lied as she rose to stand up, her eyes zeroing on Itachi who placed a hand stopped her. Her ego was bruised and her dignity broken. She could not forgive him. She wanted to make him believe that she had never allowed him to get into her skin and lodge there.

Kami must be laughing at her now, for falling in love with the wrong man. Sakura thought hysterically as she tried to quell the tears that were threatening to spill from her luminescent orbs.

"I was making love to Sasuke, not you." She spat out while Itachi's face had turn hard, his sharingan activated, spinning wildly as he fixed a weathering glare at her. The look on his face did not satisfy the ache in her heart. She wanted him to suffer like she was suffering. Pathetically loving him for all these years only to be heart broken when she heard his engagement, and then totally hacking her heart to pieces after he mocked her with his sexual expertise.

"Is that so?" He asked his voice dangerously low. Sakura did not reply, her tumultuous orbs barely meeting his as tried to keep her emotions at bay.

Sakura's thump loudly in her ears as she could see the angry ticked on Itachi's jaw. She knew that she had gone too far, but she was not the only one. Itachi took pleasure from her without asking her any permission in the first place.

That she can understand, since she knew that Itachi always take what he wanted. Even by forcing it out from her.

She was almost on the verge of a breaking when Itachi finally broke the silence.

"My mind has been set," he drew away from her, his eyes glittering with cold promise, his face carved into harsh lines. "I will have you tonight," Sakura's heart skipped a beat, her face blanching.

"I'll come to you," Itach said standing up, dusting his hakama, which still looked presentable while hers was stained. "I'll make my claim and take your virginity."

Sakura grimaced, her heart crumpling. She clenched her fist as she realized that Itachi only see her as a trophy, a priceless trophy that he was going to risk everything to win it. Her heart a terrible palpation against her chest as Itachi's eyes took on a possessive gleam as he looked down on her.

"Your virginity is mine to take," He said ominously, making her shiver with fear and anticipation. Her hands making its way towards her heart as he held her gaze, biting her lower lip to keep it from trembling.

"You're mine." A sob almost rose from her lips as he said those words, her hand curling above her heart as she stared at him.

"Mine." He repeated.

Kami, she wanted to hear that words since she had last encountered that in her dreams. She wanted to hear those words spoken when she was officially his. As husband and wife, but all of that was a dream, as reality struck her like the bolt of lighting. Itachi meant it as a momentary possession, not for eternity.

"_You're mine." _The words echoed inside her head as her heart twisted into a tight knot, and she broke.

With a strangled sound from her throat, Sakura was abruptly stood up and was ready to flee the scene in despair when Itachi clamped a hand on her arm. His curious eyes scrutinized her features, suddenly puzzled by her reaction. Yet, he did not asked her to explain.

Sakura instinctively whipped her hand, her eyes welling with tears as she tried to defend her vulnerable heart. Her flailing hand was claimed into a tight grasp as Sakura averted her face. Not wanting for Itachi to see her pain.

"I may want your body," Itachi said unforgivably, truthfully, making Sakura want to cover her ears, her thought of sharing a love with him disintegrating. Inwardly she was crying, sobs rose from her throat but she restrained it.

She suspected that Itachi only felt lust for her, but she was just hoping that it would bloom to something else.

That was why she was there. She wanted to find out if he loves her.

"But my engagement to Shinshi remains." The words a kunai to her heart and Sakura choked back the tears.

Uchiha Itachi apparently did not love her. What a fool that she was to build a false hope.

"I will not break it for you." Itachi said before disappearing, having stayed for too long that would rose suspicions from the guests.

Sakura remain standing on the pond, looking lost and alone. Tears streaming down her face, but even that did not quashed the pain that settled heavily in her heart.

A sob escape from her lips that she failed to stop, and turn into soft muffled cries of anguished as she slumped down on the ground. Desperately hoping that this was one of Itachi's mind games, and tried to revoke the genjutsu, but find none.

This was real.

This was the painful truth.

She gave up trying to cast a genjutsu release seal that Sasuke had taught her after using it against her. Sasuke had copied it from Itachi, when he had been seeking for new techniques, and Sakura suspected why Sasuke had successfully procured Itachi's special genjutsu. The older Uchiha had allowed him to do so with a consequence in mind.

What brother's they were, stealing something from the other while the other reciprocated, like Itachi was going to do if she allowed him near her tonight.

She angrily wiped the tears from her eyes. There was no time to waste.

She was going to leave the Uchiha Compound earlier and seek some safe place for her to stay, away from the impending doom in the face of an Uchiha.

She was not going to allow Itachi to have his way with her. As long as it takes, she would do everything in her power to stop him.

When her pain subsided, the mist in her eyes evaporating until the last vapor faded. She suddenly felt the dull ache and sadness stirring into the depths of her heart, dull yet it was there, making a place for her to dwell of loving a man who only see her as a mere whim, for him to use and discard.

It was pitiful that she had gone this far to chase after an Uchiha, who was only capable of loving his duty, his power and his clan.

She would have barricaded her heart against him in the first place. She thought, as she pressed her palm against her numb heart, feeling impossibly cold and in pain.

Nothing about the Uchiha had bordered homely and loving. She should have known that Uchiha Itachi was untamed and aloof, only settling down when his Clan presented a perfect bride for him.

She carelessly wiped the last remaining traces of tears from her eyes, meanwhile scolding herself for shedding a tear for someone who doesn't deserve her tears.

The precepts of happily-ever-after with a warm loving husband faded like a vapor. At first she had thought that it was going to be Itachi, but as blind as she was then, she couldn't see the truth even though it hit her right in the face.

She now knew that Itachi was incapable of love. And the love that he had shown towards his family was only out of necessity, preplanned like he had planned everything in his organized world.

While Sakura, she was only an after thought, a diversion; something irresistible at the moment until he gets bored and discards her after he had sucked all of her dry. Taking everything and leaving nothing.

She could still remember the kind smile that he had bestowed to her when Sasuke had first introduced them. She didn't even know if it was just a pretense.

She didn't even know if he was just an illusion, one of his mind games. After the episode earlier, she didn't know if the person she had fallen in love with was real. She hardly knows what to believe anymore.

Uchiha Itachi was a manipulator and above all, a liar. She could see that now as she made her way back towards the party, having regained her composure and her emotions tightly held in check. Her pink locks back to its original coiffure and her ivory kimono half its best; the lingering grass stains, a painful reminder of Itachi's ministrations.

"Sakura," Sakura spun around to stare at the man, wearing a dark blue kimono with a sour look on his handsome face. It was Sasuke, and it seems that the small talk that he had with his father didn't go too well. His lips were set into a fine line and his eyes had an odd quality to it, he looked like his father had torn a chunk from his limbs.

"We must leave."

Sasuke had never said anything less than what she was planning to do. She wants to get away from there and fast.

She shot a glance towards the couple at the center, who were leading the festivities. Itachi was standing beside his fiancée, entertaining the guest. He must have felt her stare since his eyes instantly went straight towards hers. She glanced away before he caught her gaze.

Sakura looked back at Sasuke, who had also followed her gaze and was now staring at someone behind her, obviously Itachi.

"Let's go," She requested hastily, taking Sasuke by the arm and pulling him beside her. Sasuke deigned a curious look at her as they began moving through the throng of people.

She wanted to leave her before Itachi knew what she was planning. "I'm tired." She lied to Sasuke, who shot her a disbelieving look but did not protest as she herded him away from the festivities.

She could feel the weight of Itachi's stare, boring a hole on their heads as they blended in with the guest. They hurried along the empty streets of the Uchiha Compound and towards the exit. Sakura was grateful that Sasuke had started living in his own apartment. She understands that Uchiha Compound was must be starting to look like a prison after Sasuke had been forced by his father to take the Anbu and breathing down his neck.

They were almost near the exit; the lanterns hanging from beside the huge arched that held the Uchiha symbol at the center when Sasuke suddenly stopped. He had kept on glaring at her when she tried to make him hurry. Her arm was still around his waist when Sasuke asked her, scowling.

"Why are you in a hurry?" Sasuke asked, his voice portraying irritation. "Did something happen when I left you alone?"

Sakura momentarily stiffen at the question, then force herself to relax when Sasuke notice the change of her demeanor.

Telling him that Itachi was going to make love her tonight would surely shocked Sasuke, and let's not forget enrage him. Even though that Sasuke's relationship with her was just a purely for convenience, it does not mean that she was free to indulge sexual pleasures with someone, and especially not with Sasuke's older brother.

She knew for quite sometime now that Sasuke could be extremely possessive when it comes to his possessions. As of now, she was obviously his.

"Nothing happen," Sakura said denied, showing an air of defiance as Sasuke's eyes had narrowed, closely watching her. "I'm just a little tired, that is all." she said hastily, averting her gaze.

After a moment of tense silence, Sasuke finally spoke.

"Some thing did happen, Sakura." He said his eyes fixed on her averted face. "Tell me what it was."

He was met with silence as Sakura continue to ignore his questions.

He knew well why she was there. He hadn't forgotten that he had extended this invitation to her. He wanted for her to settle this matter between his brother and Sakura. Itachi was already engaged and he expecting for Sakura to accept it. That was why he had made it clear to her that he was going to be her pretend boyfriend once she gave up on Itachi. His mother had already temporarily halted her matchmaking plans now that Sakura was his girlfriend. But once Sakura show that she was not interested in him. His parents were bound to notice it.

He didn't want her distracted. Someone might think that while he was basking his love for Sakura, she was panting after his older brother. That would be totally humiliating, and scandalous.

"Sakura," Sasuke warned.

Sakura sighed in resignation, but she did not answer him. She took a step back and looked up at him, her arm still in place as she scans his features.

"I'm really tired, Sasuke." She said, her eyes really did look tired and mournful as if she had lost something.

Sasuke could guess what that was, or was it a matter of who and not a what? Sasuke thought wryly, looking her over, the stress on her beautiful face evident.

"And I mean really, really ti-"

"Cozy aren't we?" The smooth voice made Sakura jumped in surprise, her eyes flying towards the man who had creep up behind them. Sasuke carefully twisted his body to look at his brother.

Itachi coldly regarded them, his eyes wondering from the arm wrapped in Sasuke's waist to Sakura's flushed face. Their eyes locked, Itachi shooting unpleasant repercussion for her attempt get-away with Sasuke, while Sakura glared. Inwardly shivering at the dark promise she could see in his dark orbs.

"Itachi," Sasuke said neutrally at his brother, feeling the obvious tension vibrating between him and Sakura. "Why are you here?"

"You know Sasuke," Itachi said, slowly tearing his eyes off Sakura. And then cast the full blast of his cold stare at his younger brother, who met it evenly.

"It is ill-mannered to leave the party without saying proper farewells to your host and hostess," He raised a questioning brow at Sasuke, who merely gave him a blank stare. Sakura glance from one to another, suddenly feeling uneasy as she could feel the restrained air around them.

"I was just a little curious to what had made you abandon your proper manners that our parents had had the hard time ingraining into us?"

Itachi cast a surreptitious glance at Sakura under his lashes while Sasuke followed his gaze, bestowing Sakura a perfunctory glance before staring back at his brother. "Was it business?" Itachi said in a low tone, looking intently at Sakura, who went rigid at his stare.

"Or pleasure?" Itachi asked, his words a drawl as he met Sakura's wide eyes.

Sakura shuddered at the words, images flying into her mind as she could remember what Itachi did to her earlier.

"_You will be moaning my name as I fill you. Feeling my shaft entering you," _Her face a deep shade of crimson as she could envision Itachi doing those erotic things to her. But instead of his fingers, it was his impressive shaft, doing those wonderful things to her body.

Itachi taking her, grasping her buttocks and lifting her, filling her with his heat, his girth a pleasurable sensation as he entered. _"Taking you deep and hard that you would be writhing for more,"_ stretching her further and further until he was buried deeply into her. Feel him move above her, inside her and taking her again and again until she could only feel his essence, his invasion and that deep penetration. And above all, that sweet feel of being one.

Secure and intimately close. But neither was hers to take. She could only see the promise of one night in Itachi's gaze, and nothing more.

She glanced away from Itachi's gaze, afraid of losing herself to him. Her heart thudding against her chest as she felt the dull pain began to radiate from within her heart.

She will never allow him to hurt her again.

Sasuke closely watched them. There was a tick on his jaw as he saw both their desire, such foolishness coming from both of them. If Sakura was going to risk her name being besmirch by lusting after an engaged man, then he'll have to pummel some sense into her head until she regain some.

Sakura moved closer to him, her curves molding familiarly against him. Sasuke glance down at her, and found her staring up at him. Something really did happen between his brother and Sakura, and he hoped that Sakura did not do anything desperate like trying to impregnate herself with Itachi's child.

Sasuke inwardly scrunched his nose in disgust for having to protect Sakura's reputation against his brother, who had been acting odd for the couple of years since Sakura had disrupted his life. He have to baby-sit them before they do something drastic, like tearing off their clothes and having sex in front of the entire clan.

With a grim line pasted on his lips, Sasuke finally answered Itachi's question. He was not going to regret anything he said. This was for the convenience of both Sakura's reputation and his. He wanted a peaceful life without any annoying woman hanging over his arm. In which Sakura had provided after she became his pretend girlfriend.

"Pleasure," He said his voice cold. "I'm taking Sakura to my apartment."

Sakura snapped her head to look at him, her face showing surprise, her slim arm tensing around his waist.

Sasuke remained indifferent, watching with interest as how Itachi reacted to his words. His older brother's bearing had gone rigid; the air around him had turned deathly still as he shifted his attention back to him. Itachi's eyes were glacial as their eyes clashed, but Sasuke was staunchly unwavering.

Sakura fidgeted as she could feel the tension rose from the two brothers, and tried to put a halt to this silent battle before in totally break lose and became a full blown fight between two powerful Uchiha's.

"We're sorry that we didn't say our farewells Uchiha-san," Sakura began nervously, bowing her head and refusing to look at Itachi who turn to look at her. "But Sasuke-kun and I really need to go home, but since you were busy entertaining your guest. We decided to—"

"Do you really take me as gullible, Haruno-san?" Itachi asked tonelessly. Sakura's unconsciously straightened her spine, and nearly blanch as she could see the repressed violence in Itachi's onyx orbs.

"Clearly you do not understand the proper modicum between a host and a guest." Itachi remarked as he took a threatening step forward while Sakura wanted to cower into Sasuke's arm. She did not however.

"What ever it might be the reason for this sudden departure, it is expected of the guest to properly say their leave to the host before doing so." Itachi explained, critically surveying Sakura who tightened his hold on Sasuke.

Sasuke remain monotonous as he observed Itachi's odd behavior. His brother had never showed this kind of passion for propriety and social ethics to act like a bastard for this one squeamish between Sakura and him.

Itachi must be really enraged by something, and it was apparently directed towards Sakura.

"But I do understand why you have such odd ways," Itachi said, his eyes turning hard as granite. "Your civilian upbringing must have---"

**SLAP**

Tears gathering in Sakura's turbid orbs, her eyes simmering with hurt and rage as she stared at Itachi stony face.

Sasuke was frozen in shocked as he watched his brother bear the stinging slap that Sakura had given him. It must be really painful as there was hand print appearing in Itachi's abnormally pale face.

"I hate you," Sakura choke out, her tears blurring her vision.

Sasuke wrapped an arm around Sakura's shoulder, ready to take her home. His heart going out to her as her shoulder started to shake with her brewing emotion.

"Sakura," He said calmly, "Let's leave." He tried to pull her away but she seems to be glued to the spot as she keeps on glaring at his brother.

"Do you hear me, Uchiha?" Sakura asked, her voice pitching high while Itachi remained stoic, his face a ghostly pale.

"I HATE YOU!!!" She screamed while Sasuke pulled her away from his brother, afraid that someone might see the spectacle of his girlfriend spitting words of hate towards his brother. What must the people think of them if they discovered this scene?

"Come, Sakura." Sasuke said hurriedly, dragging Sakura's shaking form and forcefully turning her away from Itachi, who remain unmovable. "I'll take you home."

Sakura allowed herself to be dragged, suddenly depleted and her nodded numbly as Sasuke help her moved her slacken legs. They only took a couple of step forward when a hand reach out and grasp her arm.

Sakura froze, her heart thudding against her chest as the hand on her arm tightened possessively, holding unto her, and not wanting her to leave.

"Itachi, let her go," Sasuke said warningly, his eyes flashing sharingan as he turn to look at the man holding Sakura captive.

"She's my girlfriend." He reminded him in a tight voice while Itachi ignore the claim and keep on holding unto Sakura. Sasuke tried to jerk her back, but Itachi kept a tight hold on her arm.

Sakura felt like she was a rope and Itachi and Sasuke was the one playing tag of war. They were acting like a bunch of children, and she was stuck in the middle of this childish battle.

And it seems Itachi was not far behind from being called a child as he catapulted.

"Sakura," There was no pretense in his voice as he said her name possessively, showing his desire for her, his ownership, his weakness, and his insatiable lust for her. "is mine…"

Sakura shivered at the possessive she heard in his tone while Sasuke looked like he was going to punch Itachi when he still didn't let her go. Her anger sizzling beneath the surface, ready to beat the crap out from the both of them.

"She's not yours! She's mine!" Sasuke said, gritting his teeth. "I won't let you take her---"

"What's this?" Uchiha Fugaku arrived on time before Sasuke could finish the sentence.

They all tensed as they turn to look at the Uchiha leader.

"I heard a shout." The older man raised a brow in query as he eyed Itachi's hand which was tightly gripping Sakura's arm. Itachi slowly released his hand from her, his face blank.

"What's going on in here?" Fugaku asked curiously, his eyes moving towards Sasuke while ignoring Sakura.

Sasuke's eyes faded into black, his expression hidden behind an inscrutable mask, his arm around Sakura's waist.

"Sasuke?"

"We were just leaving," Sasuke responded immediately, pulling Sakura along side him.

Itach stiffen as Sasuke took off with Sakura while Fugaku looked extremely stomped.

Sakura took a glance back at Itachi, who seems to be arguing about going after her or staying behind.

She stared into his eyes for a moment before tearing her gaze away from him, his expression speaking volumes in those short seconds. She could clearly see the message in his eyes.

He was not going to give up.

He was going to fulfill what he had plan do with her.

Tonight, he would take her virginity.

Sakura shivered at the thought and drew Sasuke to a halt, tagging his arm and drawing him closer to her.

She would do anything to stop Itachi. She thought as she tiptoed and leaned towards Sasuke.

She would do everything in her power to prevent herself from yet another heart break.

She told herself as her lips parted, her eyes fluttering close.

Sasuke was still simmering with rage when Sakura placed a kissed on his surprise lips.

Her lips moved over Sasuke's unmoving ones, remembering the things that Itachi had thought her; things that he had showed her in her first kissed. Her heart twisted as she could remember the first time that they had kissed. She could still feel his tongue moving, and searching inside her mouth, could taste that unique taste that was oh-so very Uchiha Itachi.

Sasuke tasted like candies as Sakura took pleasure from his mouth.

He tried to pull away but Sakura stopped him.

She could feel Itachi's gaze on them. They were already too far away from him, yet she could still feel the rage that went out in angry waves from his body.

Having accomplished her desired result, she slowly withdrew from Sasuke, who looked like he was ready to strangle her.

Sakura turn back towards Sasuke, her eyes zeroed on his recently-kiss lips with its own volition.

"_Candies, ha?"_ Sakura thought in amusement as she met his fierce glare.

Before Sasuke could open his mouth, Sakura shot him a silent message. Sasuke clamped his mouth shut and Sakura smiled lovingly at him.

They understood each other too well.

He was not the only one benefiting from this false relationship. If they were going to pretend that they were really a couple, why not take the chance and do some experimenting?

It was good that there was no going to be emotional strings attach between them. It made her feel safe that she was far from having an emotional break down if she continues with her plans tonight.

Itachi was already gone as well as the old geezer when she took a cautious glance in the direction of the Uchiha Compound.

She knew that it was going to be better than letting Itachi take her.

"Sasuke," Sakura said seductively, caressing Sasuke's nonplussed face. "Make love to me tonight."

Sasuke looked he had been made of alabaster stone after hearing her shocking request.

"Sakura," Sasuke began, looking unperturbed.

She looked curiously at him, waiting for him to continue that train of thought, and then to her utmost surprise, he suddenly burst out.

"ARE YOU MAD?!" Sasuke shouted at her face, looking indignant at the thought of sleeping with her.

If she wasn't serious, she would have laughed at Sasuke's reaction. It was quite priceless.

----

But he hadn't complained when they came down to it.

At first, Sasuke had rightfully refuse. But when Sakura broke down and told him the truth, he had given up to her wishes and took her. The pressure of deadly intent coming from his older brother bearing down on him as he witness Sakura being deflowered.

Sasuke had been afraid that Itachi was going to murder him but the torment of seeing his woman being claimed by another man, must have struck a blow to Itachi's huge ego. And he had left the scene, never to be seen again for a couple of weeks as he took up a countless Anbu missions.

And they had stopped talking. When they meet, it was as if like they were never even brothers. They were more like strangers than brothers, and he had come to regret taking Sakura's request.

----

The aftermath of that night, Sasuke had asked Sakura that they were going to be living together. Another blow to Itachi as Sakura move into his apartment.

Sasuke had only done it to protect Sakura and his brother from total ruins. Itachi was soon to be married while Sakura was now officially his girlfriend. He didn't want their reputation tarnished, now that Sakura was becoming depressed and had a tendency to harm herself.

Sasuke was sure that his brother had given up on Sakura but he was wrong, really wrong.

As soon as he got back from a long Anbu mission, all hell broke lose.

He should have known that there was no stopping Itachi from taking what was rightfully his, and for going to far.

Sakura had been in grave danger from the start, and he hadn't foreseen it from happening.

And now he regretted leaving her.

_**To be continued………..**_

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

I'm sorry that it took me to update this story. I'm really sorry. I hope you like this chapter.

_**Thanks for the reviews**_: Redhellion, nickeledwards, Ottawa, Yui-chan453, Meredith-chan, LitoxShorty, Pink Blossom Princess, XDmomopoppyXD, BlackOnyx83, trsofnaruto, mypleasurableaddiction3945, Amor Verde.

_**Thanks for the reviews mina. (Everyone)**_

**bloomsburry: **If we see air as essential to our life, I see your reviews as essential to my story. Your reviews gives birth to this story, without them, this story would have never existed.

My story is first and foremost your stories. You and I created them.

**If you have some questions just place it in your reviews or PM me. I would gladly answer your questions. **

Thanks again for reading this story.

**I would also like you to know that I made two failure plot on this chapter. You can find the other version in my deviant art. **


	5. Bitter Escape

**Status:** Incomplete

**Progress:** 75 %

**Author's Block:** 25 %

**Date started:** February 5, 2009

**Time:** 2:30 P.M

**Procrastination Period:** 8 days and 11 hours

**Date finished**: February 14, 2009

**Time:** 01:45 A.M

**Edited by:** Gaara's Cherry blossom

**Written by:** bloomsburry

**Current Mood:** Tired

----

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto….

**Warning**: _SasuSaku_

-----------------------

_**"Once Upon a Touch"**_

**Itachi/Sakura/Sasuke**

**Drama/Romance**

**Rated M**

**Chapter 5**

---------------------------------------

RECAP

_Sasuke was still simmering with rage when Sakura placed a kissed on his surprise lips._

_Her lips moved over Sasuke's unmoving ones, remembering the things that Itachi had thought her; things that he had showed her in her first __kiss__. Her heart twisted as she could remember the first time that they had kissed. She could still feel his tongue moving, and searching inside her mouth, could taste that unique taste that was oh-so very Uchiha Itachi._

_Sasuke tasted like candies as Sakura took pleasure from his mouth._

_He tried to pull away but Sakura stopped him._

_She could feel Itachi's gaze on them. They were already too far away from him, yet she could still feel the rage that went out in angry waves from his body._

_Having accomplished her desired result, she slowly withdrew from Sasuke, who looked like he was ready to strangle her._

_Itachi was already gone as well as the old geezer when she took a cautious glance in the direction of the Uchiha Compound._

_Sakura turn back towards Sasuke, her eyes zeroed on his recently-__kissed__ lips with its own volition._

"_Candies, ha?" Sakura thought in amusement as she met his fierce glare._

_Before Sasuke could open his mouth, Sakura shot him a silent message. Sasuke clamped his mouth shut and Sakura smiled lovingly at him._

_They understood each other too well._

_He was not the only one benefiting from this false relationship. If they were going to pretend that they were really a couple, why not take the chance and do some experimenting?_

_It was good that there was __not__ going to be emotional strings attach between them. It made her feel safe that she was far from having an emotional break down if she continued with her plans tonight._

_She knew that it was going to be better than letting Itachi take her._

"_Sasuke," Sakura said seductively, caressing Sasuke's nonplussed face. "Make love to me tonight."_

_Sasuke looked he had been made of alabaster stone after hearing her shocking request._

"_Sakura," Sasuke began, looking unperturbed. She looked curiously at him, waiting for him to continue that train of thought._

_And then to her utmost surprise, he suddenly burst out._

"_ARE YOU MAD?!" Sasuke shouted his voice full of anger._

_If she wasn't serious, she would have laughed at Sasuke's reaction. It was priceless._

---------------------

PRESENT

"Please, Sasuke. Do this for me,"

A pair of imploring emeralds eyes were directed at the man, whose back was turn to her while Sakura pleaded him.

"No," onyx eyes were narrowed, lips pursed into a grim line while the words that passed through his lips were cold, glacial cold like that of a winter water beneath an icy lake; bringing pain of a thousand needles pressing against the body when one is submerge into it. "I won't do it, Sakura."

Sakura's shoulder slumped in dejection, her lips trembling while her eyes glittered with unshed tears as the hours dwindled into midnight, the precise time when Itachi would pay an unprecedented visit to her apartment. However, she wouldn't be there to receive his nocturnal appearance since Sakura had imposed herself in Sasuke's spacious and well-furnished living room apartment, and doing a hell lot of convincing towards her pretend boyfriend.

"Sasuke," She tried again, this time her words were forcefully wrenched from her quavering jaws, which kept on clamping as Sakura reigned down her chaotic and distressing emotions. "You have to do this for me. I can't let your brother take me whenever he wishes."

"He won't take you, Sakura." He said almost certainly though it didn't clear the doubts from her at all. "He's already got a fiancé, and besides" he turns to look at her this time and fixed his piercing dark eyes at her form sitting in his sofa. "I won't let him take you from me," He said before glancing back at the window, where he been staring in thought not moments ago; the light of the moon filtering through the glass panes as he talked over his shoulder at her. "Otherwise he would be going against the strict decorum that had been instilled into us since birth."

"He already has, Sasuke." Sakura murmured, shaking her head, suddenly it dawn on her why Sasuke insistently denied Itachi's uncharacteristic behavior earlier. Sasuke still didn't believe that Itachi would act rashly. "He tried to take me from you before, don't you remember?"

"He let his lust get through his head, and slipped," Sasuke explained reasonably. "We, Uchiha make mistakes in certain occasions when driven by strong emotions."

Sakura made a frustrated sound, the danger that Itachi presented hang heavily over her as she tried to stir Sasuke towards her way. Yet Sasuke's trust towards his brother didn't falter, even to the extent of exposing her to Itachi's lust. Sakura didn't allow such blind judgment to try and intimidate her, and so she was determined to risk the chance of the Uchiha from taking her.

"Sasuke, can't you see that Itachi doesn't care about anything at all other than the fact that he wanted me?"

Sasuke fastened his eyes at her and Sakura didn't shrink from him as his eyes flashed in temper. The muscles on his mouth were working when he spoke, his voice conveying how angry he was at her dogged persistence.

"Stop being such a presumptuous bitch, Sakura."

Sakura visibly flinched while she clenched her fist to stop herself from hurling back an angry retort.

She, a bitch? She had never acted any of that kind to make him believe that she was. He, on the other hand was acting like a stubborn bastard.

"Damn it, Sasuke!" She was near to tears as she met Sasuke's penetrating stare. "Can't you put it in your huge head of yours that your brother is going to do anything to have me?"

"What has gotten into you?" A scowl appeared in Sasuke's face as he fully turned towards her, the moonlight casting shadows over his features. "My brother, Sakura, doesn't go for someone like you. I know you are attracted to him, but my brother?" Sasuke critically eyed her and Sakura flushed with anger while her lips trembled.

"Itachi would never go to the lengths of attaining you," Sakura suck her breath, truly frustrated and miserable. Sasuke was not hearing her at all.

"I admit that Itachi is attracted to you, and that's all. It only ends on physical attraction." He looked at her and Sakura bowed her head, trying to stifle a sob of despair for having ended up in that kind of predicament, where she was alone with the man who sided with her enemy.

"Itachi wouldn't come for you tonight,"

She wasn't too sure about that. She thought as she clenched her fist, all about her was tensed and desperate. She was willing to lose her virginity tonight, and for the sole purpose of rejecting Uchiha Itachi's advances. Her virginity hadn't been a great nuisance to her until now, wherein a man like Uchiha Itachi seems to think of it as something priceless; a high price for him to even betray his fiancé to satisfy his lust.

The unbridled lust that she now realized must have been driving the Uchiha to destruction; to the point of forcing her into submission, and to the brink of raping her.

Physically, mentally and emotionally, she would be in his possession, drained out and enslaved, though for how long he would keep her, she didn't want to find out.

She wasn't going to easily comply with his desires because she knew that she could never find in her heart to forgive Itachi, or herself if he took her. She couldn't yield herself to him, who only saw her as someone to quench and satiate their baser needs.

Loving him was one of her biggest mistake, and with a heavy heart, Sakura could only do but shed invisible tears to relieve the pain that thrummed at her heartstrings, remembering those agonizing words that tore down her stiff composure.

"_I may want your __body," _Sakura closed her eyes as Itachi's soft voice echoed hollowly in her mind, the tears she hid before were close to trickling down her cheeks as her mind played the scene, bit by bit Itachi's true character began to unfold.

"_I may want your body," Itachi said unforgivably, truthfully, making Sakura want to cover her ears like a child and pretended to be deaf._

_She suspected that Itachi only felt lust for her, but she was just hoping that it would bloom to something else. That was why she was there. That was why she was risking her __reputation, to__ find out if he loves her._

What a silly notion must have gotten into her for thinking otherwise, and like sand, the remnants of the man she had fancied herself in love with, sifted between her fingers and slowly disintegrating like vapor.

Sakura leans on her hands pressed on her knees while she allowed her hair pink tresses to hide her face, remembering the words that followed Itachi's admission. She bit back a dry sob as she recalled.

"_But my engagement to Shinshi remains." He said with his back turn to her, his words a kunai to her heart and Sakura choked back the tears, stumbling back as if she was hit._

"_I will not break it for you." He glanced back at her aloofly, before disappearing after having stayed for too long that could arouse suspicions from the guests._

A lucid tear slid down her cheek and fell into Sasuke's carpeted floor while her eyes fluttered open.

Finally, the barriers that prevented her from seeing the truth began to crack and crumble. The impressions she had cultivated about Itachi shattered like shards of fragile glass as she came to the realization of how she had been too naive to let the Uchiha under her skin and get close to her heart.

It was her mistake for letting her emotions get carried away by Itachi's searing touches and arousing kisses.

Itachi only saw her as an object of his lust while Sakura had been foolish to believe that he could ever love her. Those hurtful words that he had said earlier were sufficient evidence of how absurd, and highly unlikely he would come to care a whit about her. And those same words that she had wielded had been used to blot out those colorful canvases that she had painted him in and turn it into a grayscale. Nothing but gray, black and white, a dull and disfavoring color that deserves to be match to a person who she had come to regard in contempt.

Conjuring those words that hurt her most perhaps had helped her see the ugly reality through the veil of her stupid ideals, and as she constantly evoked it, her feelings of explicit fury, utter devastation and foolish love, developed into a bitter and an all-consuming vendetta; revenge rose from the depths of her sunken heart.

And still she looks back, to that moment with him where he seems to care not at all about her feelings, where she had been trampled to the ground repeatedly by Itachi's erotic manhandling and had been lashed out by his blunt and heartless words.

She didn't want to repeat that dreadful experience again.

The prospect of being his mistress, a whim for his emotionally detached love-making, prompted Sakura to eschew Itachi and convince Sasuke's for his total cooperation, even abandoning her precepts of remaining chaste until she was happily-married to the man she loves. And she was even stupid to think that it could be Itachi.

Nothing good had come out from her life since the say she had met him; the day when they had first touched. It was really too bad that their Once Upon a touch hadn't ended up with a happily-ever-after.

Reality didn't tolerate any fairy tales at all, and that was the dreadful truth.

That was how Sakura came to a decision that she would do whatever it takes to stump Itachi's plans, with or without Sasuke's cooperation.

Sakura would result to seduction. Or if worst comes to worst, she had no choice but to hurt herself.

Sakura took a fortified breath before slowly looking up, blinking away the tears which was on the verge of falling. Thank Kami that Sasuke wasn't looking at her, she silently thought as she scrubbed the tears streaking down her face rather hurriedly. Her eyes were fixed on the man leaning on the wall and staring outside the window, having desired no part of her private weeping.

After she was sure that she looks presentable, she carefully stood up and then summoning her confidence, she started towards the man whose attention had shifted back to her when she began to move.

She saw him raised a surprised brow as he watched her progress. Sakura glided seductively, a coy smile plastered on her lips while she fluttered her lashes at him, veiling her thoughts.

"If you are trying to seduce me Sakura, it isn't working." Came the dry response as Sakura stopped in front of him, their bodies barely touching.

Sakura almost—yes almost wanted to kick him for being such an emotionless bastard but she was not to be deterred.

"Doesn't it?" She purred, curling her hands to grasp his dark blue kimono like a cat wanting to be pet by her master. "Then I'll try harder,"

She pulled his impassive face closer while she brushed her lips against his unresponsive ones. His eyes were bored as she look up at him and she was little piqued for having no reaction from him.

She drew him closer, fully pressing her lips against his cool ones and curving her body to his lean body.

Then he resisted, pushing his hands on her shoulder and detaching her from him as he tightened his jaw, clearly annoyed at her doing.

Sakura reluctantly stepped back, her face lined with distress.

"That's enough," Sasuke said firmly, his eyes taking in a steely light while his face strained. "Sakura, I want you to leave,"

Sakura's face fell apart and she started to tremble but pride prevented her from totally breaking down in front of him, and she whirled around to protect herself from his reproaching eyes.

"Fine, I'll leave." Her voice was shaking as addressed the words over her shoulder. "But can I please use your bathroom first? I don't want to go home looking like this."

Sakura didn't look back but she could feel Sasuke running his eyes over her figure, noticing the ruffled state of her kimono as well as the pink locks that fell in disarray over her shoulder.

"Fine," Sakura heard his grudging response and she glance back at him.

"Thank you," She murmured before shuffling away.

Sasuke stared after her and frowned when he felt something unusual about the whole thing but immediately dismissed it.

Sakura just needed to tidy up. There is nothing harmful about it, isn't there?

After making sure that the door was lock, Sakura instantly made her way towards the sink and open the faucet, ascertaining that the sound of running was loud enough to drown her sobs away.

She slid down on the floor, her face showing her distress and misery as she curled herself into a tight ball, her ivory kimono badly ruined while she drew her knee to her chest, crying her heart out.

She was ruined which ever way she went, and even if she took her virginity herself, she would never get away from the taint that Itachi had brought to her.

Itachi was a part of her life, and no matter how hard she tried to get away from him, he would still remain a painful thorn at her side.

She knew that she could never get away from Itachi. In her dreams, in her consciousness and in her heart, Uchiha Itachi would be there to haunt her.

She would be forever ruined by the image of him.

However, she wasn't going to relent so easily.

She would have to lessen the fatality.

With sheer willfulness, Sakura dragged herself up and went towards the shower. Turning the taps on, she started to shed her kimono and raised her face to wash away the tears that run down her face.

Feeling the hot water stream down her body and soaking the ivory kimono that gathered at her feet.

She was naked by now, and her distress banished replaced with determination. She was ready to tear down the last bit of her innocence that she herself had protected.

It had been 13 years ago when the chastity barrier had been placed inside her, 13 years ago when she had entered the Ninja Academy and was too young to understand what its purpose was.

Now she understands that it was the barrier that prevented the hymen from tearing when under rigorous training, the same reason why it had been placed there to prevent a young kunoichi, like her from indulging into so much promiscuity. But like the others before her, they had found out a way to break it. And then doing any other normal hormonal teenager should do—should have done without its burden, they started to explore the realms of pleasure and sexual gratification, though not her, for Sakura still believe about keeping chaste before she could meet someone to do it with.

However, she found out that her waiting had been futile, and a big mistake on her part. For who should stumble upon her state of innocence? It was no other than a man with no conscience and no understanding with the word "No".

Uchiha Itachi was a complete boar and that was why she was determined to give him the disappointment that he hadn't foreseen coming.

Sakura tried to breathe calmly, her hands drifting towards her navel as she summoned her chakra to her finger. She let her finger hover over her mound of pink curls before venturing downwards. Fear grip her at the unknown outcomes of what she was about to do.

But she held on to her resolve, and muttered the release jutsu. The barrier broke and she emitted a loud cry of pain as she felt something tear inside her, thought not entirely but it still stings like hell.

She didn't even know she had collapse on the bathroom floor, her bare bottom encountering the lump of her kimono as she grimaced in pain. Her eyes clamp shut while she bit her lip, barely aware of the speck of blood that stain her ivory kimono, and was drenched by the shower.

She was laughing and crying at the same time, her slender shoulders shaking from her hysterical laughter and her choke sobs. Her hair clung to her neck and face as she lean back against the tiled wall and gazed upwards unseeingly.

The pain slowly disappears but the magnitude of her situation didn't lift at all. She could still feel her hymen scantly intact as she probes it with her medical chakra, though she didn't break it for fear of the pain and the blood that would surely come.

She couldn't stand the sight of her blood staining her thighs, as well as the realization of what she had done. She had finally resorted to hurting herself and she heavily slumped against the wall.

She wiped the blood away from her inner thighs and wrapped her arms around her, giving into the desire to cry and cry until her tear ducts would dry up.

She was too immersed into her own thoughts that she didn't hear Sasuke's voice from the other side of the locked door. The sound of rushing water and her distraction made it impossible for her to hear him.

"Sakura, are you still in there?" She heard him asked when she became aware of his presence. "You've taken a long time in tidying up. When are you going to come out?"

Sakura could almost detect the concern in his voice and she was grateful for it, even if he tried to hide it with his impatience.

"Sasuke," She whispered, finding it hard to move as she sat there under the pelting water. She was weak, drain out of her strength at her own action. She was sick to have taken the barrier that had protected her virginity from tearing, and now she was afraid to move because she was still tender inside, and vulnerable.

"Sakura?"

She closed her eyes and couldn't work herself out to produce a response. If she could see herself now, she would have noticed how pale she was, though she was far from caring at her well-being.

"Sakura, I'm coming in." At this, she heard him tried to open the door but it was locked and Sakura wasn't planning to help him at all.

She didn't want him there, not in that state she was in.

"Sakura, a locked door won't stop me from coming in." Sakura open her eyes when she heard the faint sound of keys fiddling. "So you better be decent when I come in. I have enough of you moping in my bath----"He didn't finish his words when he opened the door and saw her.

"What happen to you?" He asked as he strode towards her, nearly slipping as he knelt down in front of her.

Sakura was silent as she stared at him, her eyes blank.

"What have you done to yourself?" Sasuke said, his eyes catching the sight of blood before pinning her with a dark look.

"You didn't?"

Sakura just closed her eyes and didn't look at him.

The bathroom was silent as she tried hard not to cry again, her legs were pressed together and her arms wrapped around her to keep a semblance of decency even though she just wanted to throw herself at him and cry.

"Kami Sakura," Her eyes fluttered open when she felt his strong arms, slowly snake around her shoulders and drawing her closer to his chest, his heat was like a furnace over her cold body, and she snuggle closer, burying her face into the crook of his neck while she could feel him gathering her kimono about her.

"Why? Why did you do this to yourself?"

His question was harsh to her ears and she could note the strain in his voice as if he wanted to draw her tightly into his arms and comfort her, murmuring his apologies to her. Though she knew that Sasuke would never do anything of that sort, he still wanted her to believe that he was strong and overly correct about everything, even turning a blind eye towards his older brother's transgression.

"Shit!" That was the first time Sakura heard him cursed as she found herself being lifted from the tile floor and being carried towards the bedroom bridal style.

"Hell!" Sasuke cursed, raking his hand into his spiky hair as he stared at her, lying on his bed.

Sakura watched him as he started to pace, apparently agitated at her irrevocable action. She couldn't move, her limbs seems to have turned to lead as she allowed herself to lay there looking submissive, and to an unseen eyes, tempting and ripe for the picking.

"What the hell were you thinking?" Sasuke raved at her, his eyes showing his abomination. "Why did you do it?"

"I told you---"

"Don't tell me that my brother wants to have sex with you tonight because he isn't!" He shouted, and sat at the edge of the bed to glare at her. "Haven't I told you that my brother never—and I mean never—pursues a woman, most certainly not my team mate and my girlfriend!"

Sakura didn't voice out another protest. She knew that Sasuke was still unconvinced about Itachi's intention towards her.

"Sakura," Sasuke sighed in exasperation, leaning forward and placing a hand on her shoulder.

Sakura suddenly stiffen, a prickle of awareness brought her up and towards Sasuke's arms.

He was finally there.

"Sasuke," Sakura whispered softly into his ear, letting the kimono that ensconced her to slide down on the bed, exposing her cream flesh to Sasuke and the man she had feared would come. "Your brother is here,"

The hand on her shoulder convulsed, she could almost see the tension that surge from him in waves.

She and Sasuke became aware of being watched and Sasuke suddenly knew that Sakura was telling the truth. Itachi wanted his girlfriend, pretend girlfriend or not, Sakura was his to protect. Sasuke drew her closer. His eyes bled into red, sliding his hand at the column of her spine in a show of possession, he said:

"I won't let him have you,"

"Then show him how much you want me," Sakura murmured back, looking him in the eye.

Sasuke stared at her for a moment, then without warning he drew her lips into his, kissing her like he was starved man.

Sakura was surprised at first but immediately responded, placing a hand behind his nape and kissed him like he was the only man for her.

They fell back on to the bed; her bare flesh met hard, lean muscles as she arched her body towards the man hovering above her; her nails digging into his back as she played the role of a well pleasured woman, though she wasn't far from it as Sasuke suckled the sensitive area near her ear.

He was only wearing his hakama while she was naked underneath the bed sheets that Sasuke threw over them, hiding more of her nakedness from the man who was emitting a deadly intent a discreet distance away from them.

The moon threw them a gentle light as Sakura abandon herself to Sasuke's ministration. It was one or more occasions when he had hesitated to touch and kiss her in some—delicate areas of her body, but she had encouraged him.

She didn't want this show to end. Not until she was satisfied of Itachi's reaction. She could feel his wrath even at this distance and she savored her moments of triumph, because later she would be crying in regret. Yet later seems not to be long as she felt tears gathering in her eyes, her fingers involuntarily twitching in Sasuke's bare back, a muffled sob escape from her parted lips as she started to tremble.

This doesn't feel right at all.

"I'm sorry," Sakura was startled, and she suddenly looked up, her teary emerald orbs met a pair of onyx.

"I should have believed you." Sasuke murmured to her, leaning forward and place a gentle kiss on her neck, his warm lips a feathery touch against her clavicle making her shiver.

Sakura was silent, her hands absentmindedly digging into his back while her sorrowful eyes drifted towards the window.

She saw him then, standing in the shadows, hidden but making them aware of his presence. She breathed in shakily, and tore her eyes away from Itachi's silhouetted form and moved her gaze back to the man looking down at her.

"You're forgiven," Sakura mumbled while she affectionately threaded her fingers into his silky hair, trying hard to ignore the man watching them.

"My brother doesn't seem to be leaving soon," Sasuke commented, burying his face into her hair and inhaling her scent which he had become aware of while doing exactly a devoted lover should do to his woman, pretending to be a man in rapture.

This was all an act for their sole audience.

"Yes," She replied, moving her hand to grab his strong arm, feeling the muscles flexed underneath her palm.

"I don't want this to go further Sakura."

"I understand," Sakura said casually, still distracted. She knew too well that this would make their relationship a little more difficult for them. "But can you please show him at least that---that you don't like sharing? That would make him leave."

"What do you want me to do?" Sasuke raised his head to look at her.

"We'll pretend that we're really having---doing it,"

Sasuke considered her thoughtfully then he lean forward and pretended to nuzzle her neck.

"I don't want this at all, Sakura. I don't want to anger my brother." Sasuke said, feeling slightly disquieted at the thought of him and Itachi not on speaking terms, and the possibility was not far from the truth as he could feel something dark and malevolent penetrated through his senses.

His brother was extremely angry that Sasuke was already anticipating for a head on confrontation, or even his inevitable death.

However, Itachi hadn't made a move at all.

Sasuke started to withdrew from her, suddenly deciding that this wasn't a good idea at all.

"Isn't it too late to back out?" Sakura asked quietly, looking at him. "You have already angered him, Sasuke. You can't pretend that your relationship with him would still be the same after what he saw."

Sasuke didn't move a muscle but the tightening of his jaw made Sakura all too aware of his hesitation. Sakura took this an opportunity to try and persuade him.

"He will take me once he saw the opportunity of your withdrawal, Sasuke." Her hand moved to cup the side of his face while she used her elbow to prop herself up. "Try to understand how important this is for me to escape the fate that he is trying to build."

"I don't want to become his mistress," Sakura look searchingly into his eyes, trying to find the understanding in them but instead she found herself looking into a lock door.

Sasuke remain aloof.

Sakura inwardly shook her head, acknowledging the bitter truth that Sasuke and Itachi seem to be alike when it comes to obscuring their true emotion; and other traits that she had noticed between the two brothers.

They were alike more than in one occasion, and that was why Sakura found it hard to forget Itachi when she could see some of the inherent traits exhibiting from Sasuke.

"I don't want to him to hurt me again, Sasuke." Sakura whispered achingly, her eyes misty with unshed tears.

"I don't want to be hurt…….." Sakura choked out, grasping his shoulder and bury her face into his neck.

"Please don't leave me with him," She pleaded, her hands gripping into him tightly. "I won't allow myself to be hurt again. If I do---If I do, I will kill myself."

Sasuke froze at her words and realized that Sakura was serious.

Sasuke was grim when he gently pried the almost suffocating grip that she had on him. Sakura promptly released him, and Sasuke regarded her silently before finally speaking.

"Don't be a fool, Sakura. I would never leave you."

The moment the word left his mouth, Sasuke realized that it had been a lie all along, because the next few months of them living together, he was called for a mission and then he left in haste; forgetting his promise, and leaving Sakura vulnerable to his brother's intention.

When he came back, the deed had been done, and Sakura---Sakura….

He had been too late.

Too late.....

----

_"Thank you," A single tear fell from Sakura's eyes as she gently brushed her lips against his smooth cheek._

_"Thank you, Sasuke." _

Sakura told him that night when Itachi had left at last, and he had been sullen after their sham love-making.

Sasuke had never regretted angering his older brother, and the next morning he had asked Sakura to stay in his apartment, with the intention of keeping an eye on her while safeguarding her from his brother.

Itachi had disappeared for a month and Sasuke was relieved during his absence when Sakura regained back her convivial self. They were the talk of Konoha for a week when Sasuke began appearing in public with her, his movement lover-like which made the villagers buzz with intrigue while the rain of questions started, and Sasuke appeased their curiosity by divulging to them the truth.

Sakura and he were a couple, and that was when people began congratulating them. Itachi was already gone before that happen while Sakura had been unusually silent for a couple of days before she finally pulled herself together. But she fell apart soon when he left and Itachi came back.

Sakura didn't know that she had it coming.

**To be continued……**

--------------

For me, Hope, Joy, and Love could always be found in your review, PM's, Favs and Alerts. It always reminds me that I am not alone.

You gave me your Companionship which incited my Inspiration.

And in return, I give you something.

And that is imagination.

My stories.


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